String Theory
by Dooley
Summary: Bella is just living her life-- at home with her brother Jacob, and Charlie and Renee, at school with her friends, in her bedroom with...well. She doesn't like to talk about that. Carlisle Cullen knows-- even if he doesn't know why-- that nothing is right
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys,

So coming down off my recent success in Twilight fiction-- The Zone (posted here if you're interested, just visit my profile to check it out)-- I got a new idea that I decided to run with. Those of you who're stopping in hoping for a Zone companion, this** isn't**it, but have no fear, that's up and coming very soon. So keep an eye out for **_The Zone: Unanswered Questions_** which will be a series of one shots.

Anyways, onto my new baby. You guys gotta give me the benefit of the doubt in this one-- not quite AU and not quite canon-- but reasons for that will all come out. This isn't as planned as I would like, in terms of a workable witch's hat, but this chapter flowed really easily, so maybe I can skate by with this one. Yeah. Right.

Read on guys, hope you enjoy. I think for this one, I will respond to every review. I mean I ask you guys to let me know what you think, it's always nice to get that acknowledged. So yeah.

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Bella heaved a heavy sigh, throwing her window open wide enough to let him in. "Just be quiet. You'll wake Jacob." He laughed. She let him cup her face, his long fingers catching in her sleep tousled hair.

"Maybe I want to wake him up," He growled possessively, dipping to nip at her earlobe.

"Hey." She shoved into to an arms length. "You know I _hate _biting. I'm not Victoria."

He pulled their hips together lewdly. "Ain't that the truth." When he kissed her, she let him. She could forget who it was, what it meant, because it was the middle of the night and no one knew but them. She pulled him back, keeping their lips together as they moved anxiously.

When the back of her knees hit the edge of her tussled bed, she fell back and pulled him on top of her. The room was filled with only sounds of heavy breathing, pants escaping between heavy, thoughtless kisses.

Bella let his hands roam under her shirt but forcibly twisted out of his grip as they ventured further. All the while they remained connected, everything wanton and useless. His tongue slid hotly against hers as they exchanged power. She shifted her hips against his, twisting around and pinning him beneath her.

He laughed an ugly laugh, deep and rough, in his throat, "Sometimes I wonder why we try to pretend."

She ignored him. It wasn't about a _we_ or and _us. _Bella kissed down his throat, sucking sparingly as she went and he groaned. Her mouth met his again. Briefly, she wondered how this went on for so long some nights. Bella never let either of them lose their clothes, though she was already in her underwear because that's how she slept.

He went on, over confident as usual, "I was just thinking how _tired_ of Victoria I am." His nose was nuzzling her neck, his breath hot just under her ear. His voice was deep and thick as he spoke, filled with lust. "I wouldn't think twice about leaving her if you decided you wanted to give this a go." He thrusted obviously and awkwardly against the side of her hip.

With a heaved sigh, Bella sat back. "James." Instantly, he knew it was over and he wouldn't show her how much it bothered him. Getting off of him, she sat on her pillow, letting her blood cool. "It think it's time for you to go."

He got up without a word but at the window, as he straightened his sweatshirt, he gave her a cocky grin and said, "Not like I need you."

Bella scooted down in the bed and flopped back with a heavy sigh. With a shake of her head, she sought out her comforter and pulled it over herself. It was as if she had simply rolled over in the bed because she was asleep again in moments.

"Bells, time to get up." Blinking her eyes blearily, Charlie's face came into focus. She groaned sleepily. He pushed her shoulder again to keep her from flopping face first on her pillow again and Bella was resigned to get up.

"Has Mom left yet?" Charlie was halfway out her door.

"No, she and Sue are carpooling." Bella pulled herself out of bed and pulled on some gym pants before heading downstairs.

"Mooom!" She called as she went.

"I'm right here, you don't have to yell." Renee sigh exasperatedly as she popped her head out of the kitchen, a cup of orange juice in her hand. "What? Hurry, Sue's outside."

"Can I borrow your red scarf?" Her face relaxed instantly, brushing it off.

"Oh, yeah sure. I thought it was something important." Renee put the cup in Bella's hands, still half full. "Here. And did you wake your brother up?" Bella groaned.

"Let him get himself up." She didn't want to have to walk back upstairs.

"The last time I let that happen, he didn't go to school." Renee gave her daughter a reproachful look and then threw one at Charlie over at the refrigerator.

Charlie immediately got defensive, "I was at work already! I thought this was Bella's fault."

Renee rolled her eyes, "Real manly, put all the blame on your daughter." Bella was halfway up the stairs, not in the mood for an argument.

Barging into her brother's room, she wrinkled her nose. "Oh, god. Are you cultivating something in here?"

Jacob jerked awake, his leg kicking involuntarily as it stuck half off his mattress. "Wuhh?" Bella snorted. Kicking his butt, he groaned, shoving his face into the pillow. He stuck his butt into the air.

"Oh yeah. Do it aaagaaaiinn." She made a face and sat on him. Jacob heaved as she knocked the wind out of him. "Can't. Breath... Ass. Too big."

Rolling her eyes, Bella bounced up and down twice before getting off of him. "Get up, dumbass. You're gunna be late."

Jacob moaned, curling up in his covers. "No!"

"Whatever." And she was gone. Back downstairs, Bella went into the kitchen to find Charlie leaning on his hands over the sink. He looked distracted. Renee was gone and with a look outside, Sue's car was gone.

"Aren't you going to be late, Dad?" He looked up at Bella, thinking still. A long pause passed between them.

"Oh.. uh. No. Got a call, I'm supposed to check out a scene before going in." Bella poured herself some cereal.

"Really? What happened?"

"Robbery. Down at the Newton's place." Bella was interested instantly.

"The shop or Mike's house?" Charlie dropped a hand to her shoulder as he reached for the milk carton.

"The shop, and thank goodness it was late. They made quite a mess, apparently."

"At least everyone's alright." Suddenly, her bowl was gone from in front of her and she twisted around to see Jacob grinning sloppily as he slurps over the rim of the bowl. "Oh, gross. Jake, backwash!"

"Jacob, make your own." Charlie's dad voice was enough and Jacob put the bowl back in front of Bella. She smiled triumphantly down at it. "Alright, I'm gone. Don't be late today."

Both Bella and Jacob hummed a distracted response as he walked out the door. The front wall shook momentarily at the door slamming. Neither kids noticed.

"Hey, you do the English?" Jacob asked as he stood from the table.

"Of course. And no." He moaned.

Dropping to one knee next to her"C'mon Bells! I'm gunna fail because of you."

Bella rolled her eyes, "Yeah, because I won't let you cheat. Do your own damn work." She pushed away from the table and headed upstairs. "And get ready. We're leaving in fifteen."

In her room, Bella got ready, throwing on clothes as soon as she recognized that they were clean and only paused momentarily to check visible skin for any sign of bruising. Satisfied she headed downstairs, knowing that her time with James the night before wasn't much for a hickey but wouldn't risk not checking only for Jacob to notice and ask nosy questions. More like, act as her Spanish Inquisitor.

Jacob was sitting on the hood of her truck already as she passed the front window. Bella reached for her keys hanging on the rack next to the phone. A yellow post-it was stick to the wall next to it in Renee's rushed script. _Rachel called._

Rushing around the cab, Jacob made the same face he always did when he watched her get into the drivers seat. Bella smirked at him as she slammed her rusty door shut, tugging her coat tighter around her while starting the truck. If he wanted to drive, maybe he shouldn't have driven without a license the month before Charlie was bound to find out. Jake was forbidden from being behind the wheel of a car until he was 18. Charlie would relent in a few months, whenever he needed Jacob to stop by the tackle shop for him or something. But Jacob would suffer loudly.

"You see the note? Rachel called."

Jacob perked, interested. "Really? When?" Bella shrugged, twisting up the heat and sitting with her hands tucked into the crooks of her elbows, seeking warmth as the truck warmed up.

"I wonder how Pops is." Jacob mused then caught her eye, "Hey, don't give me that look."

Bella shrugged again. She knew that years ago, Jacob would have wanted nothing more than to be with his sisters with his mom's dad in Seattle. At least, he did right after the accident. But the tribe wouldn't do to let their next chief go—No,not after losing Billy. They hated him off the rez too...with the pale faces... but Forks was a lot closer to La Push than Seattle. But now, after nearly twelve years, if he felt the need to leave, it would kill Charlie and Renee who thought of him as their own.

As soon as she could feel her toes, they rattled off in Billy's old truck. Bella took it slow, much to Jacob's discomfort, as the black ice was everywhere recently.

"Grandma," Jacob grumbled and she eased off the gas out of spite.

In the parking lot, Bella had to put all of her force into slamming her door shut. When it got too cold, the door stuck. On her way to her locker, she spotted Mike and flagged him down.

"Hey, I heard about what happened."

Mike made some sort of face, "We stopped in this morning. The whole place was ransacked." Bella pulled him into a one armed hug. He patted her back.

"Do you know why, yet?" He shook his head at her question.

"I'm sure Charlie can let you in on the details at home." The bell rang.

"Catch you at lunch? And I'm sure Mom will have you guys over sometime this week." We shared a smile, knowing Renee all too well.

In that hallway, as students hustled to their classes, too many things happened and too many things didn't happen. Jacob passed Bella on the way to his class and he flicked her ear. Whirling on him, Bella kicked at his heals as he pushed through the crowd, grinning back at her. Victoria Sutherland had James Witherdale pressed against a wall of lockers, neither of them rushing to class. She stared adoringly up at him but he stared over her head to the back of Bella's, his arm slung around Victoria's waist. In the courtyard, Edward Mason stared uncomfortably at the sun in the sky even as the temperature dropped around him.

When the bell rang, Alice Brandon and Jasper Whitlock weren't in their seats; Emmett McCarty won't think about school at all as he stops a freshmen on his way to Health, ready to hustle him for lunch money or something else as mundane; and most of all, Bella Swan and Edward Mason won't pay each other any mind.

At the end of the hall, a piece of paper crushed in his tense, pale hands, a beautiful man stood watching it all happen and not happen. Inexplicably, even to himself, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, knew innately knew one thing:

_This isn't right._

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What'ya think? Love? Hate? I just gotta know.


	2. Chapter 2

Edward didn't like the sun. He was too pale for it and no cloud cover meant there wasn't anything to keep the warm air in—in a strictly meteorological standpoint. He didn't like the cold either. Pushing his glasses farther up on his nose, he pushed through the classroom door. He sat, hands folded, waiting for the bell to ring. He was always the first to arrive.

The stool next to him was kicked out and he didn't even bother to look up. "Morning, Black."

"Morning, lame-o." Jacob plopped himself down in his seat and scoffed. "Really, Eddie. It's too early in the morning to be so fancy."

Edward looked at him wrying out of the corner of his eye. "I'm fancy because I said morning?"

Jacob leaned over like a father letting his son into a life lesson, "Now you see, it's the tone, kid. It's aaall in the tone. You sound like you're ninety when you talk in that tone. '_Mourneeng, Blaaahkeh.'_" Jacob flipped his wrist when he imitated Edward.

"How you're in junior Bio, I'll never understand." Jacob grinned, not fazed by Edward's attitude.

"See, you have not faith, kid."

"Stop calling me kid. I'm older than you." Jacob scoffed.

"Yeah, by like a million years. You and my sister have like the same mental age." Edward had already moved on from the conversation, opening his book. Something about learning came way too easy for Edward. He didn't have a photographic memory or anything like that, but once he read something, maybe did some examples, he never forgot it. He had taught himself French and was way ahead of the learning curve in his Spanish class.

He had read this chapter the week before and he almost regretted it. Edward suddenly had nothing to do. Jacob had already flopped over on his desk, totally comfortable with napping on his unopened book. With a sigh, Edward excused himself to the bathroom, nicking the hall pass and looping it around his wrist.

Walking through the hall, he took his time, wandering and taking moments to glare at the sunny skies. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose when he realized he should actually go to the bathroom. Emmett had made them late that morning. Kilstead always hated them being late. Made him look bad.

Turning a corner, he stopped,wide eyed. At the other end, James Witherdale had Bella Swan pinned against a wall. They didn't notice him.

"I need to get back to class, James." Bella did not look happy but nothing about her said scared. Her body was stiff against his. His grin was enough to make Edward uncomfortable. It wasn't his business.

"C'mon, we stopped short last night. No one will know, babe." With a disgusted noise, Bella shoved him away but he grabbed her wrist and pulled it around her with a tug backwards, pinning her back against his chest. He all but licked the side of her face with the look he gave her.

The awkwardness of watching something so desperately private and humiliating was getting to him. Bile rose in his throat. A strange heat burned on the back of his neck. But it wasn't his business. With a sigh, Edward walked shamelessly past the couple. For a second, both James and Bella were staring at him. For James, he was interrupting and Bella's look didn't last long enough for him to know what she was thinking.

It wasn't his business. All he thought on the rest of the way to the bathroom was if Jacob knew. Wasn't James dating that Victoria girl? No, Jacob definitely didn't know. And obviously, Bella had made sure of that.

Back in class he was till thinking about it. He knew exactly how James thought, mostly through observation. James was a hot headed hot shot. He already had a girlfriend, one popular with other guys. But he was bored. And Bella Swan, with her middle of the road social status, her hot blooded brother, and police chief father, not to mention her gossip of a mother, Bella Swan was a challenge. And James Witherdale never passes up a challenge.

And apparently, he got what he wanted, but not really. Bella was obviously fooling around with him, but if he noticed anything about her attitude and expression, it had nothing to do with James. It bothered Edward that he couldn't fathom a reason for her to fool around in the first place. He frowned, his head resting on his hand.

Jacob stirred beside him, uncomfortable. Edward watched him shift once and then twice. Jacob was a good brother. Edward wondered if he should tell Jacob. It'd be nice to see James suffer.

Edward surprised himself. It wasn't his business and he didn't even know James. Who was he to say he should suffer? Then he remembered the feeling in the hallway—the bile in his throat and the heat in his neck. It was a completely inexplicable reaction.

He shrugged it off.

When the bell rang, he nearly walked away before turning back and looking at Jacob, long hair splayed around his face. Mercifully, Edward kicked the leg of his lab stool, jerking his head off the table. Edward was out of the room before Jacob was conscious enough to know how he'd woken up.

In the hall, the crowd ebbed and flowed and Edward took his time. A heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he turned quickly. Emmett grinned at him.

"I got us some money for lunch" He held out a few crumpled dollars. Edward frowned.

"I don't want that money." Emmett's grin crumbled into an agitated frown.

"You have to eat, man." Edward frowned back. He turned to face Emmett completely and spoke very seriously.

"I don't want the money you just took from some kid." Emmett laughed wryly.

"He ain't gunna miss it. He'll have food on the table when he gets home." Emmett held his hand out again and Edward pushed it away.

"This isn't a joke." Emmett looked away, shoving the money into his pocket.

"Whatever." He turned to walk away but Edward caught his arm.

"This needs to stop, Emmett." In reaction, he yanked his arm out of Edward's grip.

"Mind your business, Mason." As Emmett stalked off to class Edward called after him.

"You can't let let Kilstead win." Emmett stalked faster. "Asshole," Edward grumbled. Emmett hadn't always been like that. Well...sort of. Edward always knew he was capable of being an asshole. He didn't seem so bad when social services stuck him with Kevin and Amalie Kilstead. Edward had been living with them for nearly three years. He was used to Kilstead. Emmett never got accustomed.

But there was more. Emmett had no motivation to be better. Edward could see it written in every line on his young face. He saw it every time he ran his hands roughly over his dark hair. He had nothing to be good for.

At lunch, Edward sat at a table alone. Emmett was too proud to sit with him after their little argument. He was probably out back. Alone.

Across the room, his eyes followed his classmates as they passed. Jessica ran anxiously across the floor to her usual table, where Angela, Mike, and Eric sat. She had gossip to spread. And none of them wanted to hear as they huddled tightly around Mike. They were talking about the crime in his family's shop.

Victoria Sutherland wandered through the doors, sitting down. She looked rather forlorn. And it was because she hadn't seen James, Edward knew. And he also knew why she hadn't seen him. He tried not to think about Bella and James in the hallway as the feeling came back, the heat on his neck. Edward scratched at it, infuriated with his inexplicable reactions.

Alice Brandon and Jasper Whitlock came in through the back door holding hands. She led him along and he was all too happy to let her lead the way. Just seeing them made Edward smile a bit. Alice waved a small wave and Jasper nodded in acknowledgment. That made Edward feel good.

Nearly as soon as they came, they went. They'd ditched their first couple periods. Just because. They didn't really fit right into the crowd. Alice had only lived in Forks since just after Edward started high school. Edward remembered the scandal in the town when the Whitlocks, who had just moved from Texas, took in a hitchhiker girl. For weeks everyone watched to be the first to tell their neighbors that the Whitlocks had been murdered violently, the tiny hitchhiker girl never to be seen again. But it never happened. The next scandal came when it was obvious Alice and Jasper were intimate and all the mothers outcried because they lived same house.

They had common ground, Edward supposed. The Forks kids had grown up together, everyone knew everyone's name and everyone's first kiss. Edward was all alone when he was assigned to the Kilsteads. Then Jasper moved in down the street. The boys took a reserved liking to one another, both way too mature for their age. Really, Edward knew, that Jasper liked that Edward didn't ask questions. Edward didn't need to ask questions—he was too good at simply reading people.

When Alice wandered into town barefooted and dirty with a limp but somehow every step was fluid. Jasper had been captivated from the start. Edward expected the Whitlocks to take her in when everyone else thought they'd call Sheriff Swan.

Even though they understood him, like Emmett did, Edward was still alone. He watched Alice and Jasper pass in front of the cafeteria window, smiling at each other, Alice's a wide and unashamed grin while Jasper's was small but made up in intensity. As they passed, his eyes focused out the window, his lack of lunch forgotten as it was usually.

Far out the window as the school yard faded into trees, he could have sworn he saw something. Squinting at it, he saw the figure move. It was shaded in the canopy but it was obviously watching. Edward stood up, transfixed by the figure in the trees. But as he approached the window, the figure was gone.

He blinked. Had it been his imagination?

When he had turned back around, Bella was coming through the cafeteria doors. He paused to watch her cross the room, trying desperately to understand her. When she reached the table with Angela, Eric, Jessica and Mike, she pulled a chair out and moved it between her friends to sit next to Mike.

That heat rose on the back of his neck again. He watched them talk. Bella looked worried. Talking about the robbery again. Mike smiled at her. He loved the attention. Bella wasn't anything special, long brown hair and a proper figure. Far from the prettiest girl in the room. Mike had been her first kiss.

Aggravated with himself, he pushed back in his chair and left the room. He had no reason to be reacting the way he was. It was dumb. He found himself rounding the building and sure enough, next to the kitchen door and a dirty Dumpster, Emmett sat, scuffing his boots on the gravel and dirt.

"Em..." He looked up at Edward's soft call and scowled.

"What'd you want." It was barely a question. Edward went and sat next to him on the curb. He didn't answer.

Finally he said, "Eat well?"

Emmett gave him a gloating look. "Better than you, Mason." Edward nodded once. Silence passed over them again. Emmett tossed something at him.

Edward caught it in his palms. An apple. "Thanks, Emmett." He didn't respond.

As he ate, Edward found himself staring onto the trees once again. What had he seen before? Was in an animal? Not it stood too tall, too upright. A man. But why was a man so interested in the high school cafeteria? And there wasn't a chance he could see very well into the building from so far away—he would have needed binoculars.

"Edward..." He looked up at Emmett who was looking at his hands. He had something important to say, Edward knew. And this would be his only chance to hear it because Emmett never made himself vulnerable and if he chose that moment, behind the cafeteria next to a Dumpster, Emmett would never do it again. Edward leaned in close.

Emmett paused. "Do you... do you ever feel like you're missing something?"

Edward thought about that. "All the time. I'm missing my parents. A good home. Food." Emmett smiled sarcastically.

"No shit. I mean... I mean like, have you ever felt that this isn't the life we're supposed to be living?" Edward thought about that again.

"No, actually. I think if I accepted the possibility of a better life, I'd end up sorely disappointed." Emmett frowned.

"Exactly." Edward blinked at Emmett.

"What do you think you should be?"

Emmett looked very seriously at Edward, "Loved."

The single word pierced Edwards heart. He slouched a little bit where he sat. "Emmett..."

He stood, leaving Edward to look up at him. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, Em, I was just--" But he was gone and moments later the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Edward stood, watching where Emmett had left. There was a rustling in the trees. Edward whipped around, eyes wide. "Who's there?"

The forest was still but Edward didn't move. He kept his eyes frozen, nearly unfocused, in hopes to catch any sort of movement. The wind blew. Nothing. Edward turned to go to class.

When school was out, Jasper was waiting outside his last class. With a small smile, Jasper waved him over. Edward met him with a smile of his own.

"Alice and I are going camping this weekend and we wanted to know if you and Emmett wanted to come along." Edward blinked.

"Uh...that would be great." He frowned a bit. "But I have to run it by the Kilsteads." Jasper nodded grimly.

"If they say no, I'm sure we could sneak you out." Jasper's smile was a little devious and Edward laughed. "And my parents aren't going, so we'll have an extra tent. Maybe, if there was someone you wanted to invite..."

Edward shook his head, "I'll talk to Emmett. He'd love any reason out of the house."

Waving goodbye, Edward left because if he was any longer Kilstead would leave him behind. He picked up his pace to a jog. And if he didn't get there before Emmett, he'd leave both of them behind. In his haste, he pushed past people with increasing force. He didn't want to walk home.

He wouldn't look back to see the disgruntled faces of the other students, giving them another reason to dislike him on top of his inability to be normal like everyone else. His foot caught another and he caught himself before he fell while the other person hit the ground hard. He heard the crack of a head on the floor.

With a look back, his stomach flipped. It was Bella, barely conscious on the floor. Immediately, a crowd was around them. Edward without thought pulled his sweatshirt off and balled it up, putting it under her head. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and stood. He didn't want to walk home.

Pushing through the crowd, he picked up his pace again. People gave him mixed looks. They didn't understand why he had bothered with the sweatshirt if he was just going to leave. What was a sweatshirt going to do to help her? What kind of person just _leaves_ her there? It was totally his fault. He saw it in the squint of their eyes. He skidded to a halt when he saw Jacob.

"Hurry, I accidentally tripped your sister. I have to go." Jacob's face went though a myriad of emotions, never settling on one before he left Edward to check on Bella, shoving himself back the way Edward came.

And then Edward was gone. A disgruntled Kilstead sat, parked on the curb with the car running as he was everyday. Edward threw himself inside before Kilstead could drive off. He'd done it before.

"Emmett's coming." Kilstead frowned.

"Then next time tell him to run. Lazy bastard. I have a meeting, I'm leaving."

"You can't make him walk."

Kilstead sneered, "Look, I'm paying for everything for you little leeches. You have food, a roof over your head, and a shirt on your back. If that little asshole thinks he's better than my schedule, then he can walk home. I'm leaving." He started pulling away from the curb. The car was moving when Edward opened the door. Kilstead made an angry noise, but Edward was out of the car just as fast as he had gotten in.

Edward watched as Kilstead sped away. Kilstead was actually happy he didn't have to worry about the little bastards, Edward knew. With a sigh, he watched Emmett saunter up, taking his time. "Thanks a lot, asshole."

Emmett made a face and was already walking home. Edward followed without another word. Every rustle of leaves in the wind caught Edward's attention as they walked on sidewalkless streets. Things ran through his head a mile a minute. He thought about Jacob and Bella and James—three people he wouldn't have ever given a second thought. He thought about the mysterious figure in the woods. He thought about the feeling on the back of his neck. He remembered the flip of his stomach looking at Bella on the hallway floor. All of those feelings were completely new to him. And more than the cold, Edward disliked things he didn't understand.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Forum:

This might go a little long, so if you really want to get to the chapter, skip till the bold part.

Okay, that last chapter was dedicated to the ever faithful Sophia and The Dempster-Dumpster System. XD That's right, Sophia. It wouldn't be Sarah Dumpter. It would be Sarah Dempster. Which is SO MUCH BETTER.

That's a little inside joke between me and my best friend, Sophia—yes, Sophia in The Zone was based loosely on her.

On to this chapter. I understand that this is really vague right now and a lot of the information that isn't explained out right. You sorta have to read between the lines.

Also, I apologize about my weird style of tagging dialogue. I'm sure you noticed—I'll write dialogue in quotes and leave out who said it, instead say how the other character reacts.

Ex: "I got us some money for lunch" He held out a few crumpled dollars. Edward frowned.

"I don't want that money." Emmett's grin crumbled into an agitated frown.

"You have to eat, man." Edward frowned back.

Notice how when Edward speaks, Emmett's reaction is after it? As I write, this makes totally sense to me but I also understand how it can be confusing for you guys. I am trying to fix it. And it's totally a given to use more tags (like "he said" and "she said") when it's a conversation with more then two people. But when I'm in those personal situations, I tend to overlook that I'm even doing it.

So as I try to fix it, bear with me when you're confused about who is speaking what and keep in mind, while who is speaking is directly next to their dialogue, it's all in sequential order. In the example above , Emmett speaks and does and action. Edward responds to the action and speaks. Emmett responds to the dialogue and speaks. Edward reacts and so on... It's a sequence.

**Okay, enough of my drivel... onto the chapter:**

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Bella grimaced. She knew she was dreaming. She couldn't remember going to sleep. Her dreams passed quickly, each morphing into the next. Her hand burned the most excruciating sort of burn ever to be experienced and when she looked at it there were deep, bloody indentations of teeth. As she looked down at it, the burn started to disappear, the blood washed away, and the wound scarred over, chilling her hand. A sun rose around her and she squinted, disoriented. When she looked at her hand, the crescent shaped scar glittered as if painted with thousands of tiny diamonds. An environment faded in around her-- a forest and muddy ground beneath her feet.

She whipped around, looking around for signs of anything she knew. Glancing at her hand, the glitter was gone. She was filled with an anger and a betrayal and a fury she couldn't describe. In front of her eyes, her hand broke—three fingers snapping and bruising.

She cried out in pain and when she looked up, Jacob was suddenly there, towering above her, shirtless. When did he get so big? He looked twenty. His hair was buzzed short. The pain in her hand flared back as tears filled her eyes, hot with anger. Jacob's face was mixed, half sorry and half covered with an infuriating sort of self satisfaction.

Then she was out of her body, watching herself and Jacob moving as in sudden rewind. She watched her body straighten from it's pain filled crouch and then their bodies came closer. Her hand flew away from his face at double speed, surprise leaked into every pore and line of her face. Their bodies jerked even closer together in the sadistic rewind as she watch herself and her very own brother, tall and strong and attractive, kiss deeply.

Bella was back in her body again and still kissing, she wanted to pull away in disgust. She could _not_ kiss Jacob. He was forbidden. But all the anger and confusion slipped away and was replaced only with passion and impatience as the kiss was cut short. These weren't Jacob's lips. She opened her eyes and looked into a familiar face but her mind couldn't place it. It was too pretty, too pale, with delicious amber eyes and hugely dilated pupils burning into her soul. She was in love with this face, this strong jaw and bronze wild hair. This wasn't Jacob. Passion and impatience won her over and she blacked out in it's intensity

Opening her eyes, she was in her school parking lot. Across the lot she saw that same face, watching her blankly without that passion she had just seen. With her eyes locked on his she heard the screech of tires and she looked too late to see a van skidding out of control, headed straight forward. Things went nearly blank, only feeling a crack to pavement in her skull and the pain felt too too real as it shot down her neck and spine. She reveled in the cold cold hands cradling her.

She saw that face again, looked into those amber eyes, and the dream changed again. Bella was riding on the back of a giant dog, clutching to his fur for dear life. She could feel the wind chill her face as if it were just a step from reality. She blinked and the dog was gone, but the wind was there as she rode on the back of a man who she clutched around his neck. Rather than fur, hands clenched to his clothing and beneath that felt as hard as stone.

She was filled with fear and euphoria that she couldn't explain. Her breath came out heaved and ragged, nauseated at the speed they were going, the blur of the trees swirling around her. She was dying to see his face, knowing the bronze hair she nuzzled her face into belonged to that pale man she loved. But Bella couldn't handle it as her stomach churned. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get a hold of herself.

The stone fell out from under her and as the clothing slipped from her hands she opened her eyes just soon enough to scream. She was on a ledge, waves crashing an endless distance beneath her, violent and white beating on the rocks.

Compelled she took a step to the very edge. Her heart pounded. She didn't want to do this. But an unreachable place within her was in control. She watched, completely terrified, as her foot lifted and hung dangerously over thin, unsupportable air. And she stepped off.

Bella's legs jerked in bed, as if she had taken a wrong step on some imaginary stairs, as if she had miscalculated how far down the next step was. Her eyes snapped open and her heart beat uncontrollably. Her head pounded painfully and she couldn't regain her sense of surroundings.

She was in a hospital bed, hooked up to beeping machines. Her stomach flipped at the very thought of inserting an IV needle. Bella laid back in bed, her heart still beating wildly. What the _hell_ was that? Bella never dreamed, usually.

She looked around the room as her heard settled. Charlie was uncomfortably asleep in a chair in the cornor of the room. Suddenly, the door was pushed open. Renee came in with two cups of coffee. Charlie didn't drink coffee very often. Bella guessed they were both for her mother. Renee looked up and her eyes brightened.

"Oh, Bells, you're awake." Her face crumbled with relief.

"Hey, Mom." Bella's voice was nearly raw. Renee hustled to put all of her things down. She took a sip of her coffee before coming up beside the bed. She rubbed her hand softly over Bella's forehead. Bella flexed her hand unintentionally and then looked at it, tracing where the crescent scar had been in her dream.

"God, we were so worried about you. The doctor was worried you might fall into a coma."

"A coma?" Bella tried to pull herself up in bed. Her head spun.

"What happened?"

"Douchebag tripped you." They turned to look at the door and Jacob was closing it with a sour look on his face.

"Jacob." Renee's voice was stern, "Language."

Charlie stirred and made a noise. "What's going on?"

Renee wheeled on him, "Real nice, Charlie. You're supposed to be watching your damn daughter and you're _sleeping_."

Charlie blinked blearily at her, "What?" Renee made an exasperated noise as Jacob and Bella shared a look of their own. Then Renee looked at the kids a look that told them they should agree with her. Bella and Jacob looked pointedly away.

"I'm going to find the doctor." Renee left and Charlie couldn't look at them for a minute. Bella watched his face cringe in a small amount of shame before looking up at her. He caught Bella staring.

"How you feelin', Bells?"

She smiled weakly and her lips cracked dryly. "Fine, I guess. I had some crazy dreams."

"Gotta be the morphine they put you on, that stuff screws you up." He paused and reached out to brush her cheek. He pulled back before he touched, afraid he would hurt her. "You hit your head pretty hard, kid."

"Eh, she'll live." Bella looked at Jacob who smiled at her despite his barb. Her breath caught. She saw her dream again, as vivid as the first time she saw it, and she saw kissing her brother. Discomfort settled in Bella's stomach. Yeah, Jake wasn't her real brother. She squirmed. _I can't keep thinking like this_. She though about how real that kiss felt and despite the anger and frustration that came with it Bella couldn't deny she hadn't ever thought about it. _Yes. You can deny it Bella. Because. He's. Your. __Brother._

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I think I'm going to find your mother." Jacob and Bella watched him go.

"Like cats and dogs." Jacob muttered and Bella nodded grimly. "It's because of me."

Bella couldn't deny it, honestly. "Their relationship is their own damn problem. There's nothing we can do." He smiled at her and Bella forced herself not to look away.

"So what happened? Was it really bad enough for a coma or was Ma just being dramatic."

"Renee's _always_ dramatic. But yeah, Dr. McCoy thought there was a chance you would slip into one. Do you remember it?"

"I remember tripping but... that's it."

"You didn't trip, for once in your miserable life." Bella wished she was strong enough to throw a pillow at him while the morphine sucked her into lethargy. "Edward tripped you." He made a face.

"Edward Mason? That guy in your Bio class?" He nodded.

"Left you bleeding on the linoleum too."

Bella's stomach churned. "Bleeding?"

Jacob frowned at himself, "Oh shut up, wimp." Bella touched her head all around and found a wrap around it, a dry and crusty spot on her right temple. Oh, god. She was glad she wasn't conscious for the wrapping part. Jacob continued, "He ran up to me and told me you were bleeding then ran off."

"What a dick." Bella frowned. Jacob obviously agreed.

"He seemed like an okay guy. I can't believe he would just leave you like that. Left you this too." Jacob tossed her something and she caught it. Turning it over in her hands, Bella looked confused.

"A sweatshirt?" Jacob nodded. Bella held it in her hands and was taken by an unnatural urge to inhale the scent coming off it. She blinked and pushed the sweatshirt away. It was just the morphine. She was loopy.

"Sweet, ain't he? Even let you bleed on it a little." Bella shoved the sweatshirt away further. "I say give it back to him like that. Bet he wears it before realizing there's blood on it."

Bella cringed. "Jacob, you are disgusting."

"But you _know_ you love me." Jacob all but pounced on her. He nuzzled her face all around making sickeningly sweet cooing noises and Bella shoved at his chest. He was too close. She could feel his hair brush over her face and smell his manly smell. Despite the image of him in her head, dashingly tall, with buzzed short hair and a built frame, she could still easily fall for this Jacob. Her brother Jacob. She shoved hard.

"Jeez, perv, get outta here! Get me some applesauce or something." Bella kicked at him playfully but let out a very relieved breath when he was gone. She looked at the sweatshirt spread on the end of her bed.

There was a soft knock at her door. Without waiting, a head popped in of an older doctor with a stern face. "Good, you're up."

"You find my mom? She went to look for you." He came into the room and smiled wryly.

"Yeah, I saw her. I think your dad and her are working somehting out." Bella knew that translated to an argument. "Anyways, I'm Dr. McCoy." She looked him over.

"What, no sterile white coat and name tag? Trying to give the hospital a homier feel?"

He laughed a bit but his eyes were a little agitated. "I was actually supposed to get off about half an hour ago. My shift hasn't been taken over yet." He obviously wasn't happy about that. "I honestly didn't think you'd be waking up on my watch." Dr. McCoy picked up her chart hanging at the end of her bed. He flipped it open and clicked a pen, then scribbled something. "You have a bit of a concussion, but nothing to keep you back from school or anything. If you're awake now, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. But we will subscribe some medication—"

"Not morphine?" Bella thought of her dreams and the vividity of them that scared her.

Dr McCoy shook his head with a smirk, "Oh, no. Just some basic pain medication."

"Good, cause I had some really strange dreams hopped up on that stuff." Dr. McCoy looked at her a little surprised.

"No, morphine doesn't do that. Actually, morphine dependence actually reduces the change of REM sleep—the sort of sleep you dream in..." Bella blinked at him as her stomach sank.

"Oh..." She forced a little awkward laugh, "I guess I just have an overactive imagination..." He smiled. There was a knock at the door and again without waiting, a blond man popped his head in.

"Leo, there you are. I'm so sorr—" Bella sucked a breath in. This doctor was _hot_.

Dr. McCoy all but reared up, "About time."

The doctor came in, still in his street clothes with a messenger bag slung haphazardly on his shoulder. He held his hands up in defense. "I'm so sorry, I thought I was on the next shift and Lorraine just called me. I've been busy—"

"Dammit, Cullen, I'm a doctor, not a shift manager. Just be on time and this won't be a problem." Bella watched the exchange awkwardly. As if they sensed it, both of the doctors looked at Bella and after a moment, smiled the same apologetic doctor bedside manner smile.

"Sorry, Bella. Just a little..." Dr. McCoy struggled for the word. He moved on, "Well, this is Dr. Cullen. He'll be your doctor tonight. You're in capable hands. Goodnight."

Dr. McCoy all but shoved Bella's chart at Dr. Cullen's chest as he walked out. Dr. Cullen hadn't taken his eyes off Bella.

"Bella..." He muttered and Bella curiously watched his face work. He pulled himself together, flipping open then chart. "So...concussion?" He looked up and gave her a charming smile and hissed playfully,"Ouch."

He thoughtlessly put his bag down and it knocked over, nearly a dozen files slipping out and splaying papers across the floor.

"Oh, doctor." She leaned up and reached for the bag to pick it up. Her IV tube tugged uncomfortably as she stretched it too far. Dr. Cullen reached out and caught her hand. His smile was winning.

"Don't worry about that. You just relax." He straightened as Bella sat back, looking anxiously at the mess of papers. She hated messes. Dr. Cullen was looking at her chart again. "Well, looks likes every thing's okay, seeing as you're awake. We'll do some finals tests but I'm pretty sure we can discharge you soon. You'll be here overnight if they take a while, maybe even out by later tonight."

"Thanks, doctor." He smiled again and Bella finally looked him straight in the face. His features were glorious and pale, each as sharp and as breathtaking as the lasts. Oh, if only he were a few years younger. He had to be right out of med school, barely thirty. When she reached his eyes, she nearly choked. Amber, no, more topaz when she looked again, stared back at her. The same color as that familiar face in her dreams—just as pale and beautiful too.

The doctor heard her near gasp and instantly looked worried. He reached for her. "Is something wrong?"

Bella shook her head sheepishly, "No, it was just your eyes." Her eyes widened. How _stupid_ did that sound. He stopped, eyes just as wide.

"You know them?" He sounded almost suspicious. She shook her head firmly.

"No."

He backed off and after a moment, relaxed. "Well, I'm going to get dressed. Can't be a proper doctor without the stethoscope and the lap coat, eh?" His smile nearly forced Bella to smile back. She did.

Dr. Cullen squatted to pick up his papers and shuffled them all together, muttering something about reorganizing. When he stood, he stopped to look at Bella for an uncomfortable amount of time. He looking as if he was contemplating something.

Before he left, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small card. "If you need anything, anything at all, you call me." Bella took it from him automatically and looked at it. A business card. How strange.

"Uh...thanks doctor." He was already halfway out the door.

"Carlisle. Please, call me Carlisle."

The next week at school was ridiculous. Everyone needed to know how she was and to tell her how much they now hated Edward Mason. Bella really had more to think about than Mason and since her conversation in her hospital room with Jacob the last time she thought bad things about him. She had resolved that he wasn't vindictive or purposeful in his ability to give her a concussion. She anxiously rubbed at the scab that now itched under her hair.

"We're gunna have to get you one of those cone things they give dogs so they don't chew at their nads," Jacob teased as he darted past, headed for his last class. Bella shoved at him but he was too fast for her force to effect him at all.

The hall slowly started to empty but Bella took her time getting to class. It felt like her only time to be alone. The desire to ditch her class came on strong. At home, Renee would fuss over her, at school, the _entire_ school would fuss over her. She couldn't even hear her own thoughts most of the time.

Bella settled on going to the bathroom and when she was done, she would decide whether or not to go to class. In the bathroom, she just stood there. She didn't have to go. With a quick look around, she hurriedly whipped her backpack off her back. Digging in it anxiously, she pulled out her hospital room discovery.

As she was getting ready to leave the hospital, Renee always told her to made a last sweep to make sure she hadn't left anything behind. She did it grudgingly, always thinking it was a waste of time, but she remembered being surprised to find Edward Mason's sweatshirt crumpled on the floor next to the bed. When she reached down to get it, something kicked under the bed caught her eye.

Two manila files, each with paper spilling out of them. Curiously, she had reached for them and tucked the papers back into them before looking at their labels. Suddenly, a nurse had come in to do bed changing, surprised to still find someone in the room after the discharge. Bella had clutched the files to her chest like a kid caught in the cookie jar.

Bella hadn't looked at the files since. For some reason, she felt they were deeply private. On a whim, she had put them in her backpack with a strange need to keep them with her at all times, lest someone else come across them. Bella somehow knew they were Dr. Cullen's, the same he had dropped the day she first met him. They belonged to the doctor with the eyes like her dream man's.

There in the bathroom, she pulled them out of her backpack, stuffed in on top of the sweatshirt she had been meaning to return. She had a feeling Edward was avoiding her. Bella flipped them over in her hands, feeling important like Dick Tracy: Private Eye.

There, in small, loopy chicken scratch, was the labels of the files, sitting on their tabs. Definitely a doctor's files. She had to squint to read the words._ Mary_ _Alice Brandon_.

Bella blinked. Alice Brandon? That girl that lived with the Whitlocks? She remembered the scandal she had caused when she came dancing into town. Was she sick? Why else would Cullen have a file on her. Opening the file, the same loopy scrawl was inside. Bella struggled to made out the shorthand.

The top page, Bella decided was a summery of Alice's known life. Not much more than what you could get from the school gossip circle. _Escaped from a mental ward, still missing persons case in Biloxi, Miss. _Bella clutched at the folder. Jessica would _kill_ for that sort of information.

Bella looked around anxiously as she sat in the corner of the girls bathroom looking at a very suspicious folder. Maybe it was a file for Alice's treatment. Maybe Dr. Cullen was secretly treating her. Suddenly, the rumor that Alice would murder the Whitlocks in their beds singing Lizzie Borden's nursery rhyme seemed all the more likely. A chill ran up Bella's spine.

She flipped through the pages, anxiously, striving to find a page with the most ledgable words. She stopped at one and read _Signs of precognition _and stopped at another and read Definite_ relationship with JW. _She flipped again and read _Large similarities with DX, studies continue. _

Bella's mind was racing. She slammed the file shut and picked up the second and last one waiting for her on the grimy bathroom floor. Bella had to squint to read the name, using her finger to trace the letters as she recognized them.

_Isabella Swan_

Compelled to read them again, to figure out she read it wrong, Bella stared at the words for a near minute. There was no mistaking her own name. She tore open the file. She _knew_ Cullen had given her strange looks. Maybe he was stalking her, and other high school girls like Alice—he was some sort of extremely formal pervert. Who got off on documentation, or something.

In the file, she didn't even bother to try and read whole pages, skimming for words she could read. _Developed similarly to DX...No relationship with EM...Home life differs completely to DX..._and in big, capital letters, _LIVES WITH JB._

_JB. _Jacob Black. That was it. He was staking out poor high schools girls. He made a note of Jacob because he was a threat to Cullen's sick games. Bella was shaking. She couldn't go anywhere—she had to wait to bring Jacob home after school. But she sure as hell wasn't going to class.

She closed the filed, unable to loop at it any longer. She would look at it later, she told herself. Slowly pulling herself together, Bella decided to go sit in her truck to think and wait for Jacob. Putting her things away, she tried to touch the files as little as possible. A man that handsome could get away with anything. Bella shivered again.

Leaving the bathroom, Bella was stopped by an arm blocking her path. "Where do you think you're going, babe?" James' smile sickened her.

"Not not, James." He pulled her to his chest, his arms around her waist.

"But I've been waiting for you, babe. Vicky's throwing herself at me, but I was waiting for you to get better. I think you owe me some love." His stubble chaffed against her skin. It crawled where he touched her.

Bella stomped on his foot. "Seriously, man. Get the hell off me!" James glared at her murderously. She was nearly shaking again. "Don't you get it? This isn't about you, douchebag. You were just a fuck buddy, kay?"

"Bitch, you never put out."

"Like I want any part of you in me. Who knows what kinds of diseases you have. All you were was someone to work some steam off with. This wasn't any sort of relationship. And you know that." Bella turned to walk away, feeling about ready to fall apart under her facade.

James grabbed her wrist painfully. "No one walks away from me, bitch." Bella was actually terrified as the thought of a perverts file of her burning in her bag as another pervert glared at her menacing in an abandoned school hall.

She was ready to scream when footsteps alerted them both of someone coming. Around the corner lazily came Emmett McCarty, surprised to see them there in the middle of the hall.

"Hey man, what the fuck?"

James dropped her wrist. "Get outta here, McCarty." Emmett's gaze hardened.

"Was he hurting you?" Bella locked eyes with him and there was no way to hide her terror. But she shook my head.

"No. He was just going to class." James looked between them before stalking off, watching Bella the whole way.

"This _isn't over,_ bitch." And he was gone.

Bella looked back at Emmett, totally relieved, but he was gone back the way he came. She walked shakily out to my truck. Melting into her frozen seat, she was too distracted to start the car and warm up. _What the hell was going on in my life?_

Nothing made sense. She could have gone straight to her father with the files...but she needed to know more. She needed to know what DX was, what the short hand meant. She was tempted to call Cullen. But she wouldn't do it alone.

Bella sat and thought, slowly calming, until she heard the school bell ring. Kids started flooding out of the doors, talking and breaking off in their separate directions. Bella watched each of them, looked at each of their faces. Her eyes caught Alice's and her heart pained. Escaped from a mental ward? She came all the way to Washington, the corner of the country, from _Mississippi_. Was she unstable? And what did Cullen want with her.

Examining her face, Bella felt comforted by her easy smile and open minded eyes. Alice could handle herself. She was watching Alice when she walked hand in hand with Jasper up to Edward Mason. Mason was a closed faced guy, nothing like Alice. Bella studied his faces as well, struck by a strange familiarity.

Bella got out of the truck, remembering the sweatshirt. Her hands paused when she saw the files while she dug out the sweatshirt. She pushed passed them. Bella had just gotten a hold of her wits. She would worry about those later.

She leaned against her truck, holding the balled up sweatshirt close as she continued to watch Edward. He looked up and her eyes caught his. Neither of them looked away, brown locked with striking green as they stared. And then, after a moments hesitation, he began to trot over. There was nothing special about Edward Mason, lanky build and glasses always falling down his nose. He didn't speak right away when he stopped in front of her. Neither of them looked each other directly in the face.

"Look, I'm sorr—" He started, just as Bella said, "Here—", shoving the sweatshirt at him. They paused again awkwardly. He took the sweatshirt.

"Thanks. You didn't need to give it back." She shrugged at him.

"What am I gunna do with a bloody sweatshirt...?" He looked at the dried blood stains and cringed.

"I really am sorry. I was being stupid. In the end... I didn't even need to rush." Edward rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You know just the words to comfort a lady." She responded crisply. He smiled slightly at her.

Bella smiled softly back. Then she heard the screech of tires. If she had blinked, she would have seen her dream as real as every nerve in her body, the van swerving and losing complete control. It all happened so fast, Bella couldn't register.

She didn't feel cold cold hands cradle her, rather warm hands shove her hard. Bella was sent into the icy asphalt as Edward stumbled. The crush of metal was sickening and the smell of burned rubber made Bella's nose burn. She blinked blearily, her head aching again.

When her eyes refocused, her stomach violently twisted. Edward hadn't made it out of the way of the collision. Tyler looked out his opened passenger window, absolutely revolted with himself. His eyes welled with tears as he near screamed for help.

Bella crawled forward, her own eyes stinging with messy tears. He was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine. Edward lay sprawled over the hood of her truck, his pelvis and legs pinned between it and the van. The smell of blood pierced the air but Bella didn't have the time to be sick.

She dug into her pocket for the cell phone Renee insisted she had and a crumpled little card came out with it. Tyler was babbling unintelligible and terrified things as people pooled around them, all shrieking for help. Half of them had phones out as well.

Bella uncrumpled the card. _Anything at all..._ he had said. This was something. She crushed in the number, her own terror spilling out in tears. She wouldn't call 911, or even Charlie. Her free hand reached for Edward's face. She was afraid to touch it. His green eyes peeled open in pain.

"Bell...a"

"Oh, god, stay with me. Just stay with me," She blubbered. Cullen answered his phone. "Oh my god, Dr. Cullen..." She wheezed for breath, her hand stroking Edward's forehead, "Carlisle, it's Edward.... It's Edward." She sobbed harder, "Come quick. Please."

* * *

WOW.

Okay, I totally was not thinking about how LONG that would be. I usually stick to around 2k words for my chapters but that was a whopping 5k+. I knew what I needed it to start with and end with and I guess I didn't realize what it would take to get there. But I'm pretty happy with everything. So A LOT happened, think you kept up?

I might have gotten carried away with somethings, like the dream sequence, but I think it all works nicely.

PS...I don't know if morphine affects dreams. Work with me here.

PPS... I might have slipped into first person here once or twice. Sorry. If I say 'I' in the chapter, it was defiantly referring to Bella.

Fun Fact: There's a kinda obvious Star Trek reference in this chapter that was at first _totally_ unintentional, but when I realized it, I ran with it. xD Points to those who can figure it out.


	4. Chapter 4

Dr. Carlisle Cullen stared at the dull x-rays in the large folder in his hands for a moment before closing it and looking quickly to the lab technician, who's eyes were wide and excited.

Carlisle's tone was cool and calm as he spoke, "I'd appreciate it if you kept this between us, Kevin."

Kevin gaped at Carlisle, flabbergasted, "But, Dr. Cullen, this is unprecedented. We can't just—"

"You will not speak to anyone of this" Carlisle would never hurt Kevin. But something deep inside of the scrawny lab tech told him that Carlisle is his enemy. Something about Carlisle made Kevin's heart pound inexplicably, adrenaline flowing for no reason at all.

"Yes, doctor."

Carlisle was satisfied. As he walked away, he stared again at the folder in his hands. What did it _mean_? He'd picked up an extra shift. It was late. But it wasn't as if he needed to sleep. And cover be damned, he _would not_ leave Edward Mason to another doctor.

"Oh my god.," Carlisle heard Bella's relieved gasp. From where he stood across the hospital floor, he could see into the window of Edward's room. He was waking up. She jumped up from the chair dragged next to Edward's bed where she sat on a pillow.

"Bella?" He mumbled, blinking blearily up at her. Even in the distance, Carlisle coul see every little movement as sharp as if he were actually in the room.

Bella picked up her pillow and slammed it down on Edward's face, "You _idiot_! Why would you ever do anything so _stupid_?"

Edward groaned, completely confused. "What the _hell_, Bella?" His voice was muffled under the pillow.

"Oh be quiet, your pelvis was crushed, not your damn head. But I'm sure you were dropped there at some point in your life because I can't think of another god damn reason why you would do something like that!" Bella wasn't really mad at him. She was just furious with guilt. He had his pelvis crushed into three pieces and his leg broken to push her out of the way.

Edward smiled at her sarcastically. "I'm sorry, the next time your life's in danger, I'll just watch." He rubbed his eyes, blinking blearily at her, having trouble focusing his eyes.

"Here, idiot." Bella snatched his glasses off the side table and threw them at his chest. He put them on with an amused smile. She sat back down in her chair, arms crossed, with a huff. Edward watched her for a moment, then cringed and gasped in pain.

Bella was up in a second, eyes wide and worried. "What's wrong, do I need to call a nurse?"

Edward held his pained expression for a second before relaxing with a grin. Her face went form worried to sour. "Don't do that you bastard!" Edward laughed at her.

"See, you care."

"I _don't _care." She sat down again, huffing in embarrassment. A long silence passed between them.

Finally, Edward spoke with his voice soft, "Crushed pelvis, huh?"

Bella didn't look at him, "And a broken leg."

Edward lifted the blanket over him and made a face. Bella cringed in her spot, not even looking at him. She knew what he was looking at. Deep purple and blue bruising covered his hips, etched with cuts and gruesomely unhealed stitches. The worst part to look at was the external fixator—a sadistic looking device that was a bar over the top of his hips attached on either side by four long strews, each drilled into Edward's hips, holding his bones in place. All of it was wrapped with bandages that did little to cover the horror. He gagged slightly.

"How long have I been out?"

"About a day and a half..."

Edward blinked at Bella in surprise, "_Really_?" She nodded.

"Do you remember anything?" Her voice was very soft.

"I... remember up until I pushed you...and a lot of pain. But I think I blacked out. Until now." Edward didn't want to tell her that he saw her face right before he passed out because it made him feel uncomfortably unsettled.

"They took you right into surgery, gave you that Frankenstein thing. They kept you under for the rest of the time because of the bleeding and the pain." Her voice was very small and thick.

There was another long silence. "Thank you for staying with me." She didn't answer.

Carlisle turned the doorknob and both Edward and Bella jumped slightly, turning to look at him. "Hello Edward." Carlisle smiled easily at them. Bella didn't look at him, her hands tense in her lap. "I'm Dr. Cullen. I've been treating you."

"Hey..." Edward was awkward.

"Hello again, Bella. Been seeing you a lot lately," He smiled wryly then looked at the folder in his hands and back at the two teenagers in the room. "You were pretty banged up, Edward. But... I have a feeling everything's going to be okay."

Bella stood up suddenly, "I can't do this anymore." She wheeled on Carlisle, his eyes surprised for her benefit. "You need to explain somethings, pervert, before you keep pretending you're normal."

Edward watched the two, totally confused. Bella continued, "I called you because I was panicking and you were a doctor. Now Edward is fine _but_ you're not." She advanced as she spoke, slowly getting more and more hysterical as she went, "Are you watching me? What the hell do you want with me, with Alice? You are, aren't you—you've been spying on us, _haven't you_?!"

Carlisle let her get inches from his face, letting her vent before he continued. A nurse walked past and looked curiously into the window. Carlisle dropped the blinds. "Bella...sit down."

"I _will not sit down_!" Bella screeched, "Tell me what you're doing!"

Edward was horribly curious, "What are you talking about, Bella?"

"You found my files..." Was all Carlisle said.

"Damn straight I found your files!" Bella went to her bag and tore them out shoving them in his face. "Look, Edward. My name. And Alice Brandon's too. He has _files_ on us. All this research. Stuff about my _development_ and how I live with Jacob." Her voice filled with a terrified disgust. But they were in a hospital. Carlisle couldn't do anything to her there. She knew it was the perfect time.

"What _is _this?" Edward's voice was totally disbelieving, flipping through the files.

"Did you read them all?" Was all Carlisle could ask.

Bella hesitated then defended, "No, because I couldn't read your damn handwriting. And then Edward got hit by the van. I had other things to do. But _now_, you're going to answer us some questions."

Carlisle took a deep breath. "Sit down, Bella. We need to talk about this." He turned the chair around to face him and rolled over the stool in the corner. Bella sat grudgingly and shoved her chair back and farther away from Carlisle's stool. He sighed again.

"Yes. I have files on you, Bella. And Alice. But I also have a file on you, Edward. And your foster brother, Emmett." Edward made a noise, about to protest, but Carlisle held up a hand. "I have files on Jasper Whitlock and James Witherdale and Victoria Sutherland. I have one on Jacob, too." Bella was still disgusted, but couldn't deny how ultimately interested he had become.

"They are apart of a study I've been researching...for a while. But, first things first. You're right, Bella. I am not normal."

He paused and Edward and Bella leaned in subconsciously. Carlisle Cullen was a gentle soul and his calm attitude and his quiet regret that this conversation could have happened on any better terms told them that maybe they could trust him. Deep inside both of them, there was a part of them that _knew_ that Carlisle Cullen was completely and utterly trustworthy.

"What are you, then?" Was Bella's soft question. Carlisle took a deep breath.

"What I'm about to tell you is breaking the ultimate rule of my kind—"

"Your _kind_?" Edward was breathless.

"Yes, Edward. But I simply do not have time to make you guess. There could be grave consequences for this action but... I feel like I ruined this life long, long ago. And I need to fix it."

"Get _on_ with it already." Carlisle smiled at Bella's impatience.

Carlisle took another deep breath before looking at them very seriously. "I am a vampire."

A pin drop could be heard. Bella's face when from complete curiosity to confusion to fury in those silent three seconds. "You son of a bitch!" She stood, the chair pushing into Edward's bed forcefully. "You expect us to believe some bullshit story about _vampires_ to explain some strange obsession you have with teenagers. I can't believe you!"

Carlisle wasn't looking at Bella. He was staring Edward, who's face was calculating, dead in the eye.

"He's telling the truth, Bella." She wheeled on Edward.

"You actually believe this nutjob?!"

Carlisle and Edward broke eye contact and Edward looked at her. "Yes. It sounds crazy but...everything about him tells me he's being honest. I mean, he still has a lot of explaining to do. But... I can't help but believe him."

"Oh for the love of—" Carlisle was in front of Bella before her words were out.

"Touch me." His hand was held out in front of him. His speed had startled Bella but with wide eyes, her pale hand reached out to his even paler one. It was ice cold and solid as marble. She hissed and snatched her hand back.

"Oh my god..."

Carlisle heaved a sigh of relief, as if the hardest part was over. "You're right, Edward. We have a long talk ahead of us."

Bella's mind was racing. She looked into Carlisle's eyes and was reminded of her dream man and realized the touch of his skin was just as _he_ felt as she rode on his face. It was just as cold as his hands were as they cradled her, safely away from the crashing van. She gasped.

Both Edward and Carlisle looked at her, wide eyed and staring unseeingly at the ground, holding her hand to her chest. "It's the same. It's all the same." She looked at her hand and flexed it. Would it scar like in her dream? Would she break it like her dream? She breathed a shaky breath. Would she kiss her brother?

"What is it, Bella? What's all the same?"

"After I hit my head... I had some crazy dreams." Carlisle leaned forward earnestly.

"You mentioned them..."

"Yeah. But... it's all the same. I saw a man with eyes like yours, Carlisle, and skind like yours. I rode on his back as he ran faster than I can even imagine. And I _saw_ that accident. I saw the van crashing into us. Except, Edward wasn't with me, it was just me. But I still lived. That same man got to me. Like I blinked and he was there. And the van crashed into _him_ and he was perfectly fine."

Carlisle looked excited. Bella looked exasperated, "_What_? Do you know something about my dreams?"

"I had them too, Bella. Except I've been around longer than you have. I've actually put them together in a timeline. Amazing." He looked at his hands still clutching the folder of Edward's x-rays. "That means I was right. Everything is happening as I predicted."

"You mean you _knew_ Edward was going to be hit by that van?"

"No, not really. Look, I have to explain. I need to start back when I became a vampire. I was 23 and the year was 1668."

* * *

Okay, so I didn't really plan on ending this so soon, but it felt a natural place to stop, and I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for much longer. I know it barely answered anything and introduced plenty more, but I guess that's what you get for a quicker update xD

Bear with me, it'll all make sense.

Sooner or later.

FUN FACT: I am completely ECSTATIC that my beloved Taylor Lautner will continue to be our one and only Jacob Black. ECSTATIC.


	5. Chapter 5

So my computer isn't working so well right now and while my dad tears his hair out in his attempt to fix it, I'm stuck on his. It really sucks, not at all comfortable to write on for me. So there may be a slow in the writing as I try to finish up a project script _and_ go between computers.

* * *

Edward and Bella were completely engrossed in the epic adventure that was Carlisle Cullen's early vampire life. She wasn't so sure she believed it all yet, Cullen could just be telling a wild story, but he spoke with such conviction and deep regret that she almost had to believe him.

Edward didn't doubt the story at all and sat as far up as his external fixator would let him go, earnestly wanting every detail of Carlisle's life as a vampire. It was easy to believe from Carlisle's mouth.

He paused, taking a deep breath, "And then, in the early 1900's, I lived in Chicago." Carlisle didn't look up, as if he were only telling the story to himself, "I don't know if you know, but that's when the Influenza plagued the world. I was a doctor and their most valuable because I was insusceptible to the virus and had no need to sleep. I had purpose then and I could easily ignore how lonely I was,"

"And then I treated this boy; he was seventeen." Edward and Bella exchanged looks. There was something about discussing death among their own age group that made teenagers uneasy. "His parents were gone. He was alone—just like me." Carlisle's voice was a freshly healed wound torn open again. "I wanted to change him. I wanted a companion to span the centuries with. I could teach him to be like me, to live peacefully among humans as I do. He was dying right in front of me, so I just did it."

A silence passed over the three and no one made a move. Bella spoke up, "You changed him? Into a vampire?"

Carlisle all but crumbled there in his seat, "No. I killed him."

Edward sat up farther, "You lost control?"

Carlisle nodded, clenching his hands. "I couldn't do it. Somehow, I didn't have the power—the strength—to turn him. I just sucked him dry. I vowed to never taste a human's blood again."

"Even to change them?" Bella asked. He nodded grimly.

"Especially for that. I was selfish to subject a fever crazed teenager to my own whim. He would have hated me for making him a monster. I fled Chicago and tried to continue my life… or lack thereof. But I couldn't stop thinking of him. I'd killed humans before but he was different. He was my mistake.

"And then, nearly twenty years later, I saw him again." Edward and Bella perked up. "He was still a teenager, maybe older. But it was the same kid. I was in England at the time. I thought I was going crazy. I didn't even know if vampires could go crazy. I followed him. But nothing felt right. It was as if he was an anomaly, a mistake made by God. He only forgot that He'd made this boy before."

Carlisle laughed once, "I ran. I couldn't handle watching this face all over again. I never heard the boy's name in England, so I never was sure if I was only crazy or worse."

"Did you see him again?" Bella was eager, like a little girl at story time. Carlisle nodded.

"This time I was sure. This time it was stranger. I was in Chicago again. I don't know what brought me back there—my own guilt maybe—but I worked in a hospital. And I saw him again. This time…as an infant. Something deep within me told me that this was the same child. I stole a look at his chart when congratulating his mother. Same name. Exaclty."

"What was his name?" Edward felt he already knew.

Carlisle looked up at him with sympathetic eyes, "Edward Masen, Jr." Bella gasped to herself. The room was silent again only for the machines attached to Edward.

Edward didn't look up again, his mind running wild. "You knew my parents?" Carlisle nodded.

"Only in passing. I watched you grow. I watched your parents die. I watched you enter into the system. You became my sick sort of obsession. I was filthy with guilt but something masochistic in me watched your life. And soon… I started dreaming."

Bella sat forward, "Wait—I thought vampires didn't sleep. How can you dream?" She wasn't insinuating that he was lying about being a vampire. Bella was beyond that completely. She was genuinely interested.

"I honestly couldn't tell you. I didn't know what they were at first. I simply…blacked out. Maybe an entire day—just gone. I was terrified the first time it happened. It was as if I would just slip into… a movie. I would watch these montages of images and then wake up. I talked to the hospital and all my patients were fine. I had showed up to my shift, treated all my patients, and was totally normal."

"Even while you were having those…dreams?" Bella asked. Edward didn't seem to be in the conversation as he was before, lost in his own thoughts.

"Yes. I believe that because vampires are made to be machines. Killing machines. We're actually more than well equipped for our purpose. But because I…veered from that purpose, I think those…mechanics… wove into my regular life. It allowed me to be totally unconscious for all of my normal activates. I stopped worrying about them after a while. In the dreams, I saw this girl whom I had never encountered, but soon, I started seeing Edward—the boy I had killed. I would watch you, Edward, growing older, as I watched the seventeen year old in my dreams.

"I thought it was my guilt at first—my imagination coming up with the most detailed account of my life if I had the strength to turn you then. In my dreams, Edward…you were a vampire."

Edward took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "This is a lot to take in."

"Please, Edward, follow me. You _need_ to understand this. When you were sent to the Kilsteads… I went too. I was torturing myself every day, watching you whenever I could. When you started school… that's when I started thinking something was strange, that there was more to my dreams than just my guilt.

"For a moment, I actually thought I was dreaming when I saw you for the first time, Bella. I had seen you before…but only in my dreams. You were the girl I saw in my very first dream."

Bella was slack jawed. "_Me_?"

"Yes. And Jacob and James and Victoria. All your friends and family. I had seen them all before—but in different context. Then Jasper moved in. And Alice came. Emmett was assigned to the Kilsteads. I was flabbergasted each time I saw a face I had seen in my dreams.

"At that point, I refused to believe I was crazy. There was a reason why I was seeing these people. The strange thing was, I felt like I knew you guys personally. In my dreams we are something like…family. For the most part. And as I watched, it seemed you were the same as I knew you only in another context. I did a lot of research and…well… how much do you guys know about theoretical physics?"

Edward nodded with a small, "A little," while Bella's eyes got big and asked, "Wha?" Carlisle smiled.

"I don't pretend to be an expert, but there are those who believe that this universe exists in many… dimensions. Some believe that there is a set amount of dimensions while others think there can be a dimension for anything and everything. For the smallest of decisions you make in this life, there is an alternate you making the equal and opposite decision in another dimension."

"Slow down there, Cullen." Bella held her hand up, "So when I eat breakfast and decide to have cereal instead of toast and eggs, there is an alternate me choosing the eggs?" Carlisle nodded.

"That's the gist, yes. But decisions like those might not alter reality, though you would have to factor in chaos theory—"

Right as Bella was about to ask, Edward filled her in, "The butterfly effect. The theory that something as simple as a butterfly fluttering it's wings could change something as grand as the the weather."

"More or less, yes. Thank you, Edward." Carlisle smiled at him but Edward didn't smile back. Bella was staring into space, attempting to wrap her head around everything. "But in all my research, it is given that dimensions have no contact or connection. Then you start talking about science fiction."

Bella snorted, "So _now_ this is fiction? Not way back when you said you were a _vampire_?"

Carlisle smiled wryly to himself, "Sometimes we must suspend disbelief, Bella."

Edward looked at his hands, "So you're suggesting that… these dreams are evidence of an alternate dimension contacting this one?"

Carlisle beamed, "_Exactly_, Edward. In fact, I believe that the dimension in question is what would be if all those years ago, I turned you. But there are differences. Not everyone I see in my dreams is present here in Forks. There were others, that I questioned changing in my life. But I let them die of natural causes, both in my arms, because I'd rather them go straight to God than suffer eternity with me. And both are present in my dreams.

"It seems that when I saw the success of changing you, I had confidence to change others, but when I encountered the same situations in this dimension, I believed I didn't have the strength."

Bella had just realized, "DX. In your notes, you always referred to DX. It's Dimension X, isn't it? The other dimension." She took a deep breath as she realized more, "And you haven't seen their reincarnations, the reincarnations of the others you didn't change, like you did with Edward?" Carlisle smiled at Bella.

"You're understanding better than I had hoped. Both of you." Bella smiled to herself, a little proud. Edward was still uncomfortable.

"Why was I reincarnated? Why not them?" His voice was small and thick.

Carlisle shook his head, "I don't know. There are other inexplicable things. I don't know what lead up to my dreams, the history behind them. All I know of Dimension X is what I've seen and I've learned that my dreams are time-lapsed happenings of around a four year period." Then he looked straight at Edward, topaz eyes locking with green.

"You're special, Edward. Something about you, your presence in my life and all of our lives, is special. You've walked this earth countless times and that tells me that my mistake stopped you from fulfilling God's plan for you."

Bella jumped when a bed pan tore past her head and clanged hard into the wall and then clanged again on the tile floor. Edward sat, his arm tense from throwing it, and Carlisle started at him with wide eyes.

Edward huffed angrily, "_Why _am I special?" His voice rose, "What makes you think God gives a _shit_ about me?! Maybe I'm damned to Hell, ever think of that? And Hell is walking this earth over and over, never finding fucking happiness.

"Why couldn't I just die then, huh? Why couldn't I just rest in fucking peace? But no, the Almighty has a fucking _plan_ and apparently, I have to live in this hell hole for all of eternity just to realize it." Bella was gaping, trying to think of ways to calm him. Carlisle's face had stoned over.

Edward was tensed up in bed, his hips jerking with excruciating pain that he didn't feel in his anger, veins and tendons squeezing up as his fists tightened, "I'm _tired_ of everyone telling me _everything will be alright_, that_ things happen for a reason_ because the only _damn _reason for my existence is to live in misery until the end of fucking _time!_"

He was shaking when he fell back onto the bed. He tore his glasses off and rubbed furiously at his eyes, suffocating his tears. Bella was on the verge of tears as well, her hands gripping together in pure anguish for him. Carlisle was still as stone.

"I'm sorry, Edward."

The room was silent. An attended knocked on the door anxiously. Carlisle scooted his stool back to lean against it. "Everything's fine." He called, his voice nearly dead but full of authority, "This is Dr. Cullen, everything's fine."

The hesitation on the other side of the door was palpable and Carlisle remained stiff against the door until he heard the slow footsteps away from the door. Edward had dropped his head into his hands, gripping at his hair until his knuckles were white.

"I didn't mean to upset you Edward," Carlisle tried again. Edward shook his head.

"No," His voice broke, "I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean to—"

Bella made a sympathetic noise. She wanted to make every thing better. Carlisle spoke again, "Nothing's right."

Both Edward and Bella looked up at him, but he didn't look back. He was lost within himself and the mind that couldn't ever forget. His eyes were glazed over and his voice slowly filled with conviction, "Nothing in this place is right. I hate myself and everything I am. But…in my dreams…everything's perfect."

"Carlisle…"

He smiled weakly at Bella, "I feel like a child and I'm waiting for someone to tell me the grass is always greener. But this is different. _Everything's right_, there. And now you're dreaming too, Bella. That has to mean something."

Edward wiped at his red eyes, "Maybe…maybe its real. Maybe that place where everything's perfect actually exists."

"In another dimension," Carlisle's voice was cynical and it made both of them drop their heads slightly.

Bella was anxious with the defeat in the room. "Then we'll fix it." They looked up. "We'll figure out why the dimensions are communicating and whether or not we can be there… there has to be a reason why we are aware of it and how perfect it is—a reason why we've all come together like this."

"You're right, Bella." Carlisle squared his shoulders.

"What if it's just an anomaly? What if nothing can change?" Edward was still hopeless. Bella leaned forward and took his hands into hers.

"The butterfly's already flapped it's wings, Edward. There's no going back to normal." Edward smiled smally and his thumb ran along her hand.

Carlisle watched them closely. Even with her dreams, Bella wasn't aware yet. He looked at their hands, then pulling apart abashedly because they had touched too long for acquaintances. It was as if their alternate selves were deep within them and that spoke to Carlisle deeply. Maybe this life wasn't their own. And Bella had yet to realize that the love of her life—no, her existence—was sitting across from her. "She's right."

Edward and Bella looked up at him, snapping out of their little moment. He continued, "No matter what happens, we have affected one another's lives within _this_ dimension and nothing can change that. But there is something to this, there's no avoiding it." Carlisle looked at the folder in his hands. He'd nearly forgotten about it. He thought about the look on Kevin's face when he saw that folder's contents for the first time.

"What do you mean?" Edward's question was quiet.

"My…theory is that... I turned the universe wrong. When I didn't change you. That everything was _supposed_ to be the way it was in my dreams. And… there may be more evidence to that effect."

"Carlisle, just get to the point," Bella snapped.

Carlisle laughed a bit, "Alright, Bella. I'm getting there." He paused and looked into the folder. "You're human, Edward. I know that for a fact. I was inside your body last night. Everything is human. And you crushed your pelvis into three pieces and broke your leg. That needs some serious physical therapy."

"The _point_, Carlisle," Edward was getting impatient. Carlisle flicked on the light box. He slid an x-ray of Edward's pelvis into it. The breaks were visible and Bella squirmed looking at it. Then, Carlisle slid a second into place, this time, four gruesome screws drilled into place.

"Those were taken before and after your surgery." The lines of Edward's fractures had thinned when the screws in place

"So?" Bella shrugged

"This is the final x ray, taken right before we took you off of your sedatives. Seven hours after your surgery. Twelve hours after the accident." Bella and Edward waited with baited breath. Where was he going with this?

Carlisle slid the last x ray into place. Edward inhaled sharply. Carlisle stared at it as he spoke, "A vampire wouldn't have even felt the impact of the van. It's as if… you were meant to be a vampire. So much so that, when your body sustained the impact, the universe is trying to correct it's mistake."

There, glowing in the dim room, was three x rays. One, the fractures disconcerting, the next, the fractures smoothed together with screws, and the last—the last the fractures were as thin as strands of hair.

"They're…disappearing." Bella was quiet with amazement. Edward looked down at himself.

"How fast?"

Carlisle looked at his watch, "At this rate, your bones will be mended by early tomorrow. You'll be able to walk by tomorrow night. Your leg is already healed."

A heavy silence passed over the three. In a half hour, a bond grew between them that couldn't be severed. The butterfly had already flapped it's wings. They would learn all they could about their separate dimension—Dimension X—and their lives would never be the same.

* * *

So, it's all out in the open. Tell me what you think, guys.

:)


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

For those of you who read my Zone work, pass me some parings for After Hours or some questions for Unanswered Questions. I have a few ideas but I'd really like to see what you guys want. Since _The Zone _is over, I feel like the companions are more just for you guys to play out some fantasies or something through me xD.

Also, I made some banners for this and The Zone. Check em out--they're on my profile. :D

So I've been writing this chapter for like 10 minutes every morning and night for the past few days just to make sure I put in the time so you guys aren't left hanging any longer. I'm in the middle of a thesis project and now's the time were we need to get busy, so that's getting done and I have less time to write.

Also, my computer's still bum, but it should be up and running soon and I'll be back in my comfort zone :)

Thanks for bearing with me here. Hope you enjoy:

* * *

"Don't you dare try anything funny!" Bella hissed as the unfamiliar hands hoisted out of her window. She didn't trust him, not at all. Suddenly another hand gripped her arm.

Bella gasped and jerked in the strong arms clutching her waist. Edward made a noise from below. "Be careful, Emmett!" He hissed up at them. Emmett scoffed.

Jacob looked reproachfully at me from inside my room. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Bella shrugged sheepishly, struggling to find footing on the ladder Emmett was standing on. "Going camping….?"

Jacob was not happy. Neither was Emmett. Jacob pulled Bella into her bedroom with brute force.

"What the _hell_, Bella? You're not supposed to leave until tomorrow. Since when do you go off into the night with strangers?!"

Bella tensed, "Shh, Jake, you'll wake Mom and Dad."

"Maybe I should—" Jacob was halfway to the door when she stopped him.

"Jake, stop. They're not strangers. Edward saved my life, remember? I thought you guys were friends."

Jacob hesitated, his anger sputtering. She was right. He did like Edward. Jacob shot eyes at Emmett, leaning into her window and inspecting his nails out of boredom. Jacob wasn't so sure about him.

"You don't have a single reason to not let me go, Mr. I-sneak-out-to-break-cerfew-on-Saturdays." Bella's arms were crossed annoyingly and Jacob huffed through his nose.

"Don't turn this around on me, missy."

Bella snorted, "Missy? C'mon. Be reasonable. You don't tell Mom, and I won't tell about Saturdays."

Jacob eyed Emmett, "Even better. I'm going with you." Bella gaped at him.

"_No_ way. I am _not _bringing my little brother along."

He looked offended, "I've known Edward longer! And if you don't let me go, I'm telling Renee—"

Bella rolled her eyes and went back to the window. Edward, Alice, and Jasper looked up expectantly. Emmett looked agitated on the ladder. "Can Jacob come?"

Edward shrugged and Alice nodded vigorously, grinning. That seemed like a yes. Bella huffed a sigh.

"Fine. You can come. Leave Mom and Dad a note, or something. We'll meet you out in the SUV."

When he was gone, she turned back to the window, Emmett was glaring at her and Bella glared right back. "I don't like this any more than you do," She muttered as Emmett took her waist again, stepping down and placing her gingerly on the ladder in front of him.

"Is this really necessary?" Bella asked shakily, gripping the ladder tightly as Emmett practically breathed on her ass.

Alice's laugh tinkled up to them, "Yeah, it really is."

Right as she finished her sentence, Bella took a misstep. The ladder jerked and groaned, skidding against the house as she fell back. Emmett was behind her easily, pushing her upright, digging her face into a rung.

Jasper snorted from down below.

"Oh, ha ha." Bella frowned.

When Alice suggested one of the boys go and get her, Edward volunteered for Bella's comfort. He was the only one she really knew out of the group. Alice refused like a mother hen. She did not buy that after being crushed by a van could leave him in working order after only a week. Emmett was the strongest and Edward made him go up.

Edward didn't push the subject of his injuries. He went around on crutches for a few days but he got too annoyed with the attention. Carlisle let him go off them, only if he wore a leg brace. Apparently, Carlisle is the best doctor around—healing a crushed pelvis in a week.

The whole idea of his healing bones made Edward uncomfortable and tired to think about it as little as possible. He hoped Alice and Jasper's camping trip would get him away from the attention and everything he wanted to escape.

Carlisle was excited when Edward mentioned the trip, told him to go and bring Bella. It would be an opportunity to test Alice and Jasper and see if they were having dreams too. Beyond the fact that Edward was a vampire and they were like a family, Carlisle told Bella and Edward nothing of the dreams. He thought I would interfere with their research too much. He didn't want them to make biased decisions based on the dreams.

Bella didn't like that. She didn't speak about her dreams either, but only because they made her uncomfortable. Edward still wasn't sure what she dreamed about past the van crashing. She talked about being saved then and Edward couldn't help but wonder who had saved her.

Safely on the ground, Bella closed her eyes to steady herself. Emmett rolled his eyes at her and worked the ladder down. Edward grinned at her and Bella nearly glared back.

"And we're off," Alice cried, pointing to Jasper's SUV parked halfway around the Swan house. Jasper laughed, grabbing her around the mouth.

"You gotta be quiet, babe."

She was grinning under his hands and Edward watched as Alice licked Jasper. He did nothing to react, his smile never faltering—only whipping his hand in her jacket. With a quick peck to Jasper's cheek, Alice ran off to the car, "Shotgun!"

The others followed with less enthusiasm in the dark night. Bella was still a little petulant that they thought she needed someone to descend a ladder. She was even more upset that she _actually_ needed someone to descend a ladder.

Edward hung back, his arms pulling his jacket closer around him in the cold. "It wasn't that bad," he assured.

Bella made a face, "I'm a mess sometimes. I'm used to it." She smiled at him and he smirked back.

Getting to the car, Emmett was digging in the back with the equipment. Edward climbed into the way back seats and Bella followed to fill the seats efficiently. They sat for a minute in an awkward silence. Jasper and Alice were talking lightly in the front seat, Alice leaning over the center divide. It was more awkward than Bella or Edward wanted to admit.

"Thanks for bringing me along," Bella said quietly. Edward smiled. She looked almost embarassed, "and thanks for letting Jake come…"

Edward pushed his glasses farther up his nose, "Of course. Jacob's not that bad. Though, if this all happened and I didn't save your life, it'd be a different story. He'd probably suffocate me in my sleep for giving you a concussion. Sorry about that by the way…"

Bella blushed, "It was probably more my fault than anything." Edward knew it wasn't.

"I was in a really big rush. My foster da…Kilstead has this habit of just leaving Emmett and I if we're not fast enough. And it's a _long_ walk home."

Bella looked nearly horrified. Walking places in Forks? Never crossed her mind. "That's terrible. If he ever does it again, Just let me know. It'll be a tight squeeze in my truck, but I'd gladly give you guys a ride home."

Edward smiled, "Thanks."

They fell into a silence again that had Bella staring out the window in desire to keep the awkwardness at bay. Edward always stared a little too long. It wasn't predatory or slimy, just a look—calculating and pensive.

Emmett threw himself into the back seat behind Alice and in front of Edward. He grumbled a bit before he said anything; Alice moved her seat up to give him more leg room. Bella smiled a bit at that.

It was an odd group, this one. Bella had never really talked to any of them but Edward and even then he had to save her from a ton and a half van speeding towards her. Right then, she wondered why that was.

Alice seemed the most approachable but Bella was weirded out by her sense of confidence, the fact that she never looked like she worried about anything ever in her life. Bella thought about Carlisle's file. Alice escaped from a mental ward. As Bella watched her, she realized she would have never known otherwise.

Jasper was nice, albeit quiet. Whenever he looked at her, Bella felt calm. She couldn't explain it. But when Edward had brought her up to them on Wednesday, she felt at ease when usually she'd be awkward meeting people. The look in his cool blue eyes—even like the ocean on a windless day—made everything feel alright.

Emmett was the toughest to wrap her head around. He was obviously unhappy, like Edward, with his Forks life. His home life specifically. He brooded often and a wrinkle between his brow was a mainstay. Other than that, he was beautiful. And he had saved her from James. At that moment, Bella realized how appealing every guy going with them was.

Jasper with his blonde curls and blue eyes, Emmett with his strong arms and sturdy jaw, and Edward… Bella looked over at him staring out his own window. He was definitely attractive but she had never thought much about it. He wasn't _that _interesting physically. It was his intrigue, the spark of light behind his heavy glasses.

And Jake was coming too, and as much as Bella hated to admit that she had noticed, he was quite attractive at his age. He was still relatively short—compared to Jasper, Emmett and Edward—but his long hair begged for you to touch it and his humor was infectious. Even the most fickle girl—one who desired tall and built with a chiseled visage—would fall for Jacob after a few conversations.

Bella smiled smally to herself. Jessica would be spreading it around that she had spent the weekend with four appealing men. She'd gloss over the fact that maybe they weren't movie stars in appearance and the fact that one was taken and one was her brother. She'd be the most envied girl in the school. A strange warmth filled Bella's chest.

James would assume she had slept with them all. The warmth sharply cooled. He'd spread further rumors of that, claim Bella had given him some sort of disease. That's how James worked. Bella remembered stiffly how angry he had been when she refused him.

Right then, Jacob swung the door open and climbed in, tossing a bag past Edward's head and into the back. His grin was comical. Bella smirked a bit and introduced everyone. Emmet only nodded as they shared looks. Alice grinned and Jasper merely locked eyes with Jacob. Edward smiled at Jacob, the kind of smile that told Bella that he knew all about Jacob.

The ride up to the camp grounds wasn't so long, just long enough to be away from anything they knew. Bella wondered briefly if Alice had wandered through here on her way to Forks. Why the hell would she chose Forks from Mississpi?

Suddenly, she asked from the back, "Jasper—why'd your family move here?"

There was pause in the light conversation that fluttered through the cab. Everyone turned to look at Bella and she squirmed slightly. Edward was staring too long again.

Finally Jasper spoke easily in that long drawl he'd never lost, "My dad just retired from the Marines and they just wanted to…ya know, get away from it all. We have family in Seattle but," he laughed shortly to himself, "to be honest, my ma doesn't want to be in the same city as Gram. My dad's mom."

There was an exhale of laughter around the cab. His blue eyes caught mine in the rear view mirror. "Why do you ask?"

Bella shrugged. "I don't know. Just wondering, I guess." He smiled back at her. Edward was staring again.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Bella hadn't been camping since she was a kid. She pulled her jacket tightly around her thinking about the cold.

"Why'd we leave so early?" Jacob asked.

Emmett snorted. "You ever try to get a good grounds spot on a Saturday morning?"

Jacob thought about that, then shrugged. Alice was shaking her head.

"We're not even going to the grounds."

Bella blinked at that. "Really?"

Everyone else, other than Jasper, looked nearly as confused. Alice smiled, "It wouldn't be any fun if we went to the grounds." She paused and it made Bella think about that statement more than necessary. Alice continued, "Jasper and I are taking you to a special spot we found around a year ago."

Jasper parked and we got out, the chill of the very early morning biting to the bone. Jacob looked around at the mud slopped over ground. He frowned "We're camping here?"

"Nope. It's a bit of a hike." Alice smiled as she tightened the straps on her backpack. She could have balanced it on her head and hiked up the hillside. Bella on the other hand latched onto Jacob without a word and fell into him whenever her foot hit a stone.

The hike was filled with casual talk. Edward and Jacob traded insults and it loosened things up. Soon, everyone was talking easily about things everyone knew about. No one talked about the Kilsteads or Alice's entrance into Forks. No one mentioned the car accident or the concussion. No one wanted to penetrate the thin veil that acquaintances kept.

Emmett was quiet still. Bella liked to watch him, if only to figure out how his head worked. So, he wasn't happy and he brooded a lot. Bella didn't like listening to her parents fight every night. Well, she guessed that was different than living with near abusive people.

Alice and Jasper were far enough ahead that when she stepped into the clearing, she disappeared into the darkness of the night. Bella's eyes had adjusted to the lack of light but a small anxiety took her when Alice disappeared, then Jasper.

"We're here!" She heard Alice cry.

Jacob let Bella let him go but a part of him didn't want her to. His eyes darkened. Okay, so, Bella was attractive and Jacob had seen her in plenty of states of undress. But Jacob completely resented himself for the feelings that bubbled within himself. His fists tightened.

Edward was watching Jacob. When Jacob shot him an inquirous look, Edward merely shrugged and trudged ahead. Jacob was the last to enter the clearing.

As Edward looked around, he thought about how the clearing wasn't exactly special. He looked at Jasper and studied the small smirk on his face. It told Edward that there was more to their camping spot. He would wait.

Alice threw down her bag and Jasper took the tent bags from Emmett. Set up had begun. By the time the tent was up, Bella felt a creeping lethargy. She yawned and Jacob smirked at her. Edward looked over at Jacob then at Bella.

He had watched the exchange and watched Bella. Edward was trying his hardest to understand Bella but he found that it was much easier watching the way others reacted to her. Jacob knew her better than anyone, he felt, and suddenly, Edward knew that this weekend would be more than just research on Dimension X. It would be a research project on Bella Swan.

"I think I'm going to nap real quick," Edward announced and Bella's eyes lit up. She was tired too but she didn't want to be the awkward one to be sleeping in someone else's tent.

"Alright," Alice answered, "But we'll wake you for the sunrise. You don't want to miss it." She smiled.

Edward held the tent flap open for Bella and she climbed in. Then it occurred to him, "I thought you guys said you'd have an extra tent?"

Alice looked over at Jasper then back at Edward, smirking, "Oh, yeah. It had a tear in it. Didn't want a leak or anything."

Edward didn't miss the amused roll of Jasper's eyes. But he didn't question it. He followed Bella into the tent.

Her nap couldn't have been more than and hour or so but Bella dreamed again. She dreamed of the most beautiful woman in the world and a beautiful dark haired man. He gaily shoved a baseball cap onto her head and she protested with a smile, shoving him playfully. Bella watched the dream in awe. She was fully aware she was dreaming and vowed to her dream self that she'd tell Edward about it as soon as she woke up.

The woman had long flowing blonde hair and she had a grace that amazed Bella. The man had a breathtaking smile, with clean white teeth. The dark haired mans smiled imprinted itself in her mind. She leaped onto his back and slapped his ass like a horse. He whinnied and ran off, as if he were trotting. She laughed and threw her head back, keeping her balance on his back even as he ran.

He brought them around in circles and they laughed all the way. She dropped a loving kiss to his cheek and he immediately dropped her to take her into his arms and kiss her rosy lips. They shined in the moonlight and their love. Thunder rumbled and lighting sparked behind them.

A baseball hit his head. He whipped around, blurring in the speed, and gritted his teeth. A blonde man came grinning from the tree line of the large clearing surrounding them. A bat was slung over his shoulder. The dark haired man tackled the blonde man and then Bella couldn't even acknowledge what happened next.

The two men blurred as they wrestled and it finally ended with the blonde man grinning, his mouth open to the dark haired man's neck. The dark haired man only laughed before flipping the blonde over with one arm and throwing him at least ten feet. The blonde laughed in his spot in the dirt.

Suddenly, Bella was in the dream. She hadn't realized that she was there with the three beautifully pale people until a cold hand rested on the small of her back. She turned and looked and for the first time since that moment in her first dream, Bella looked into the face of the bronze haired man she was so in love with.

_Who_ was this man? It burned in the conscious part of Bella but the part that controlled her in her dreams, deep down within her, all Bella cared about was this face. The amber eyes studied her face casually.

"What're you thinking?" Her man asked. Bella sputtered an answer that conscious Bella never acknowledged. But her man smiled in response.

His eyes dropped to down her face and both Bellas—the conscious and the deep one in control---squirmed under the attention. Then he leaned close. His breath was hot on her face. Their eyes were locked as he dropped his lipse to hers. He was going to kiss her and something inside went wild.

Bella woke up suddenly, jerking her head on her makeshift pillow of a balled up pair of pants. Someone gasped near her and something heavy and cold hit her face.

Jerking up, she knocked her head against something. She made an exasperated noise.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" She heard Edward cry. Blinking blearily at him, she told her heart to stop beating so hard. Bella picked up what had hit her face. Edward's glasses.

"What just happened?" Bella asked but they way Edward rubbed his head sheepishly and wouldn't meet her eyes, she knew. She would have done anything to make the awkward silence go away. "Oh…"

"Yeah…" He muttered. "Uh…Alice told us to get up for sunrise." Edward took the glasses she handed to him. He escaped the tent.

When Edward stepped outside, he breath caught. Bella's gasp matched his as she stepped out beside him.

"Oh, man…" she muttered as they both took in the sight around the.

The clearing was glowing in the early morning sun. The grass was painted with sunrise orange gold and the sun warmed their skin. Jacob and Emmett were sitting around a fire as they blinked up it, hot and close to the earth. The soil was solid beneath their feet but Bella felt as if they were on a floating Eden, and it was just their own. Alice and Jasper sat together, her head in his lap. Flowers filled the clearing and they seemed to never wilt, even under Alice's toes as she stretched luxuriously on the soft grass.

In the early morning light, Bella felt as if she were dreaming again and fresh from her nap she was sharp and aware of every detail. She also remembered every detail of her actual dream but she didn't think about it—never crossed her mind as she watched the sun rise.

It was a primal moment. Everything was feral in that clearing within a forest. No light was artificial, not sound unnatural. Bella didn't think at all as her hand reached out and gripped Edward's wrist. He slowly moved his arm up, as if in a daze himself, and laced his warm fingers with hers.

They stayed that way until they realized they were touching.


	7. Chapter 7

Alice rolled over in the grass, putting her chin on Jasper's stomach. She gazed up at him, napping in the early morning sun. There in their clearing, fog didn't reach them and as the sun rose perpetually to above their heads. She blinked one eye shut to watch him. He knew she was watching him and smirked behind closed lids.

Jacob and Emmett actually went on a hike, which Bella thought was strange. But Alice understood they'd be fine. Edward and Bella were wandering around the clearing and she napped periodically. Edward didn't go into the tent whenever she was in it.

Alice shifted up onto her elbow to get a better look at Jasper's face. "Do you feel like everything's about to change?"

He blinked one eye open to stare at her, completely calm. "Is it—"

Alice shook her head firmly, "No. It's just…a feeling."

Jasper let his eye close again, relaxing back into the soft grass. "I'm not sure what you mean."

Her hands ran idly over his stomach and her voice was pondering. "I just have this feeling that everything's going to change. And soon." Jasper wasn't worried.

"Everything will be alright," was all he said. His voice soothed Alice's nerves. She rarely felt them when she was easily confident in all parts of her life. This feeling isn't anything she had seen before. But Jasper soothed her.

Bella's hand itched. She couldn't stop thinking about Edward's fingers entwined with hers. She had yet to tell him about the dream she had had. There was something so relaxing about being away from home in a place where there was no such thing as regulation. The morning sun warmed the tent comfortably and she would lay back, staring at the inside of the top of the tent. The hole in the top would move as the wind blew, showing her surprise glimpses of the trees and sunshine, ever changing. Bella found herself staring hard at the hole, waiting for each glimpse.

The next time she left the tent, Edward was standing on the edge of the clearing, her back to her, watching the woods as they thickened into the distance. Slowly, she took his side. They didn't speak right away. She looked over and noticed the bump that matched hers on his head.

"…I have some Tylenol if you want it…" Bella offered, watching the bump. Edward looked down, his jaw tightening in embarrassment.

"So, I was watching you sleep. It's creepy and weird and I'm sorry."

The wind blew the tall grass, rustling quietly. Bella started laughing. Edward's jaw tightened further. She laughed until her stomach hurt and he continued to stare at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I know that was your big apology," she wept, trying to calm herself. "I just wasn't expecting it."

He looked up at her, his green eyes earnest. "I'll stop, I swear. I just…was compelled."

"I dreamed again." The subject was dropped and his eyes were eager for a different reason.

"And?"

"I saw a couple. They looked like vampires, if they're anything like Carlisle. Pale, yellowish eyes, fast and strong. It was a guy and a blonde girl. I didn't recognize either of them. Then another man came and the other guy fought him."

"Like…they battled?"

Bella smiled at Edward's wonder. She knew he was a bit jealous that he didn't have dreams to inspect. "Not really. Like play fighting—macho stuff—but super enhanced because of the speed and strength. Then—"

Bella hesitated. Should she tell Edward about her dream lover? Something about it felt wrong, all wrong, like she was cheating on her dreams. "Then I knocked heads with you," she finished, smiling to cover her omission.

Edward looked fairly satisfied, if not expecting much more adventurous dreams. "That's all of it?"

"All of it," she assured and smiled again. He couldn't see her lie.

"And you didn't recognize any of them?" Bella shook her head no to his question.

A wild yell came from the trees and Jacob appeared, running into the clearing with a large stick swinging above his head. The four in the clearing looked up at him amused.

"Wanna play fetch again?" Bella teased—the only one comfortable enough with him to do so.

Jacob made the closest sort of face to sticking his tongue out. Instead of responding, he cried triumphantly, "We defeated a _bear_!"

Emmett came from the trees as well, walking but his chest moving as if he had just halted a run. He smirked sheepishly. "Shut up, Jake."

Bella blinked at Emmett. Edward didn't even call Jacob that. Alice leaned up, not even bothering to pick her head of from Jasper's stomach. She smirked.

"A bear? Really?" She didn't even bother to act surprised. No one would suspect a thing. Jasper smirked down at her tone.

As she thought, Jacob was too excited to catch her tone, "Fuck yeah! Emmett scared it away like a badass."

Bella laughed at Jacob but Edward was staring at Emmett curiously. Emmett was obvious in the way he purposely avoided looking at Edward.

Jacob had this way of attracting people. Within minutes of his entrance into the clearing, he had everyone sitting around the fire pit telling the wild story of Emmett and the Bear. They had been wading around a creek, Bella didn't suspect they talked much, when a bear came through the brush. She was quiet and curious, obviously with no cubs to protect, Jacob reasoned—he was always good with animals—when Emmett moved too close. She reared up, inexplicably, and roared, and Emmett stopped moving. When she had dropped back to the forest floor, Emmett was eyeing her closely. And she ran away, literally running away from them.

Jacob would tell that story for weeks, Bella knew. She looked over at Emmett. What became of him in Dimension X? Was he still connected to Edward? Would that mean he was a vampire like the alternate Edward?

Emmett wandered away, a bit embarrassed by Jacob's story, and after a moment, Bella got up and followed him. She felt Edward's gaze on her back. She didn't follow right behind, but knew that he was aware of her presence. He didn't say anything as he walked idly into the woods.

"Do you want something?" he asked. His voice wasn't harsh and Bella realized she did have something for him.

"Thanks. A lot." He stopped and looked at Bella, who leaned against a tree. "I don't know what would have happened if you didn't scare off James for me. You know…before Edward's accident—"

"Yeah, whatever. Maybe I shouldn't have. It's your fault for getting caught up with him in the first place."

Bella knew he was right and couldn't find the strength to disagree or feel offended.

"Why are you caught up in that?"

Bella sat down on a fallen tree, staring at the forest floor. She didn't know why. It just happened. "I...I just wanted an escape from everything. I wanted excitement or something. I mean… my friends are great but everything's the same with them. And at home, all I do is listen to my parents fight.

"I guess I'm just bitter. Your parents are supposed to be it, ya know. The relationship you base everything off of. So I figured, what the hell, I could fool around with this jerk and nothing would be different. Then when he approached me like he approaches every damn girl in school, I just let it happen."

Emmett nodded, coming to sit beside her. "If your parents are what you base everything on, I'd be really screwed up."

Bella couldn't help herself, "You already are screwed up." She meant it as a joke, how she would tease Jacob, but she stiffened when it was out. Glancing over, Emmett was smiling lightly.

"Guess I am." He looked over at Bella slyly. "And I guess you don't need me to protect you anymore, now that you have Eddie."

Bella stiffened further and Emmett's smile widened. He laughed, "Calm down. For some reason it's like hew knows exactly what everyone else will do, but he becomes this confused little boy every time he looks at you. I'm sure he's more curious that interested."

They both knew that wasn't true but they also knew it made her feel better, so they kept quiet. Bella then said, "He's a good guy. I mean it's hard not to like the guy who saved your life."

Bella looked at Emmett who softened at the thought of Edward. "He's probably the best guy I'll ever know."

He smiled then and when Bella looked at him in the face she nearly gasped. There, with softer features and darker skin, smiled the dark haired man from her dreams. Emmett seemed to realize that her mind was elsewhere and turned to look at her curiously.

"What?"

All she could think of then was her dream, reevaluating it with the idea that it was Emmett. She would have never known because she would have never looked close enough. It didn't even cross her mind that the beauty of the people in her dreams, the beauty of Carlisle, wasn't completely natural. It would have been nice for Carlisle to mention that.

The only think she could say was, "Who's your perfect girl?"

He blinked at her. "Uh…"

Backpedaling, she went to make him feel more comfortable. Bella got her wits about her and smiled a comforting smile. "I'm just curious. Don't all guys have that perfect girl catalogued in the back of their minds?"

"Blonde," he answered firmly, "and beautiful." Emmett must have realized how lame that sounded and he obviously didn't notice Bella's mouth drop slightly. "I…I actually have dreams about her."

Bella gaped, "Really? What kind of dreams?"

"Normal dreams. But they're so vivid. It's like the way she looks at me with these crazy yellow eyes and it makes me feel like I'm a different person, completely."

He didn't understand how right he was. Bella needed to tell Edward.

"We should head back. Don't want anyone to think the bear came back for revenge." Bella laughed lamely and was already walking. Emmett followed.

Back in the clearing, Bella grabbed Edward by the jacket and pulled him into the woods. Everyone watched curiously.

Before he could say anything, Bella burst out, "It was _Emmett_!" Edward blinked, confused. "In my dream, the dark haired man I dreamed about, it was Emmett."

"Really? Why couldn't you tell earlier?"

Bella frowned, he was doubting her credibility then. "Because he's a vampire."

She let that sink in.

"_Really?_

She nodded. "Apparently, becoming a vampire makes you more beautiful. So much so, that your bone structure nearly changes. The Emmett in my dream was obviously paler than this one, considering he's the undead, but he had a stronger jaw and higher cheekbones, and the same eyes as Carlisle."

Edward thought about that. "Do you recognize anyone else?"

Bella thought back, "Not really. The girl—oh! I think Emmett is dreaming too. He mentioned dreaming about a blonde girl and described her same as the one in my dream."

It was all so exciting.

"Hey! Lovebirds!" They blushed at Alice's call and didn't look at each other. "We're going on a hike! Coming with?"

And they went, not speaking about the dreams again.

The rest of the weekend went fairly smooth. Bella got to know each of these new people in their own way but didn't do much more investigating into the dreams. It scared her a little bit.

Sunday afternoon, the tents were down and Jasper was kicking dirt into the fire pit they had made. Jacob and Emmett went ahead because Jacob wanted to show Emmett a tree he thought would be awesome for climbling. Bella figured he'd try to get Emmett to build a tree house at some point—Jacob had always wanted one.

Alice pulled the straps tight on her backpack and Jasper hoisted the tents over one arm. They looked back at Bella, sitting in the middle of the then empty clearing, expectantly. Edward had gone into the woods to see if he could find a glove he swore he'd dropped back there.

"I'll wait for Edward, you guys go ahead. We won't be long."

They nodded and Alice smirked at Bella. Bella was beginning to hate that smirk. It was so infuriated to watch her seem as if she knows something you don't.

Bella laid back when they were gone, the late afternoon sun warming the grass under her. The flowers seemed to glitter in the wash of light. As she laid there, her eyes began to drift shut and soon the realized she was in her dreams.

She was in that exact clearing, but her dream man was beside her, watching her as if she was all that was left on the earth for him.

Edward stepped into the clearing and watched Bella, all alone and laying in the grass. She turned in her sleep. He was compelled again. It felt so wrong but deep within him, it felt perfect.

He slid down next to her, watching her face intently as it moved. She was making small noises in the back of her throat. Slowly, he lay back and turned onto his side. His glasses fell down his nose and he took them off, placing them in the grass above their heads. Bella was just close enough for him to see in focus.

The man in her dreams smiled at Bella. His face shined in the light, glittering like her scar had in her very first dream. She was completely fascinated by it, reaching out and touching him, stroking his cheek. The bronze haired man nearly groaned and deeply inhaled the smell of her skin. It enthralled her, entranced by his reactions.

Edward blinked in surprise when Bella moved in her sleep again, her hand moving to hold him in place, landing heavily on his neck. He couldn't move, lest she wake again and have a work outcome than last time.

Her eyes opened and he held his breath. Bella's brown eyes were glazed over, as if still caught in her dream. She moved closer to his face and he didn't dare move.

Bella kissed the man in her dreams, softly but urgently. It felt so real and he kissed back. His hands came and weaved their fingers into her hair as they pressed together. But it wasn't like he was in the first dream, cold and hard. His hands were warm and pulsing minutely with the blood of a heartbeat.

She opened her eyes. Bella was awake, but the man of her dreams was still there, laying beside her in the empty clearing. It wasn't right. He opened his eyes and they were green, and his cheeks flushed with human color. Bella gasped and pulled away.

Edward groaned and hit himself over the head. It wasn't exactly his fault that she kissed him. But he had promised he wouldn't watch her sleep anymore.

"Oh my god," Bella gushed.

He sat up, "I'm so sorry—"

She shook her head. "It's you. You're the man of my dreams." He blinked, thoroughly confused.

Bella decided right then and there that she would kill Carlisle Cullen. Again.

* * *

So, the end of the last chapter wasn't supposed to be a cliffhanger as some of you might have thought. That's more my fault for wording it the way I did, but I changed it to clear up the confusion.

REVIEW. Let me know how I'm doing :D


	8. Chapter 8

Bella shoved through the door without a qualm. She knew he would hear her coming and she didn't care enough to wait for him to find her. He did, intercepting her right before she shoved through the on call room door.

Carlisle held his hands up stopping Bella in her tracks. "What is it, Bella?" he hissed. He was eager to find out why she was in such a hurry but she wasn't happy.

"_Why_ didn't you tell me?" her voice was low like a cat warning a dog getting too close. He stood his ground.

"Bella, are you sure this is the time—" Carlisle shot a look to a passing nurse eyeing them closely.

"I don't _care_ about the time, Cullen. We are going to talk, _right now_."

Carlisle forces a smile to a patient watching them with wide eyes as he grabbed Bella's wrist and pulled her towards the cafeteria.

Sitting at a table, he shook off Bella's glare. "What has you so upset?" He tired to remain even and calm.

"How could you not tell me?" she started again and Carlisle threw her an exasperated look. "Why didn't you say anything about…?" Bella was suddenly embarrassed, "About me and…"

She looked at her hands.

Carlisle relaxed, his golden eyes softening on her. "You found out."

"Damn straight I found out!" Bella slammed the table. She was a little worked up. Heat chaffed up the back of her neck. That night before Bella had dreamed of her dream man but it was all different. Even her dream self wasn't at ease, knowing the face she was so in love with belonged to Edward Masen. She woke in a cold sweat and thought of nothing but Edward.

In the clearing, as Edward brought a hand up to replace his glasses, she didn't miss his fingers ghost over his lips—the lips she had kissed. Bella bolted to Jasper's car and didn't speak to Edward again, much to his confusion. But he wasn't about to start a conversation.

She avoided him all day and when lunch came, she couldn't stand the weight of his stare on her back. Bella retreated and resolved to confront Carlisle right then and there. Because it was all his fault.

In the cafeteria, Carlisle sat in front of her with an infuriating look of a mother who thinks she knows exactly what her child is going through. She never does.

"I can't even look at him," Bella confessed.

"It's strange, I know," Carlisle soothed, "But everything becomes normal. Think of it as delving into a different part of his psyche."

"Yeah, one I enjoy making out with."

Carlisle smiled. "That's just a perk." Bella glared and he laughed lightly. "You can't take everything so seriously, Bella. Everything is easier if we know that that life has nothing to do with this one."

She wouldn't have it. "But we _know_ it does, Cullen. You can't deny that."

He knew she was right but the way she looked around nervously. The hospital, expect for the ever quiet Kevin, was totally unaware of Edward's miraculous recovery.

Carlisle sighed. "Look Bella. I'm not going to tell you anything beyond what you've already dreamed. I won't explain how things came to be until you've figured them out for yourself."

"Then what good was it coming here?"

He smirked, "You're the one ditching class, missy."

A silence passed between them, but also an understanding. Bella didn't know what a vampire was. Initially, she and Edward had been taken by the drama of it all to ask too many questions. Carlisle knew that she had no idea what she was getting herself into and it showed. She couldn't identify Edward in her dreams and she probably couldn't pick the human Carlisle out of a crowd if she ever needed. But Bella didn't need to understand vampires—there was nothing to know. Carlisle was the only vampire for miles and rouges hadn't passed through Forks in decades.

All Bella needed to do was trust. And for a second, that was easy to do but as things ran deeper and more and more of herself proved itself to be on the line, it became harder and harder for her do to.

With Carlisle across from her in the busy hospital cafeteria, she threw her precious caution to the wind.

"I dreamed again."

Bella told Carlisle everything. True to his word, he didn't explain anything she hadn't already come to understand on her own. His amber eyes darkened at the mention of the beautiful blonde. He smiled when Bella told him of her recognizing Emmett and he was engrossed when she mentioned his dreams.

"You should get back to school, Bella. Bring Edward next time and we'll talk about this properly."

Bella didn't argue with him. She stood up to leave and he caught her hand. Looking back, she realized that he wasn't even sure why he did it. Carlisle's stare was crossed with compulsion and confusion. He wanted to make her feel better.

She smiled at him and left him there in the cafeteria. As she wandered the hallways back to the front parking lot, Bella compared her Edwards. In her dreams, there was a passion about Edward, the desire that bleed through his eyes and heated her from the inside. In reality, Edward just didn't match up.

His jaw wasn't as strong and his gaze wasn't as striking. His arms weren't as stable and his stance wasn't as cool. Edward was a regular guy who was maybe a little too quiet and a little too smart.

Edward Masen wasn't anything special.

Rounding the corner, Bella stopped when she caught the look through a window. With a small smile, she stopped and watched him pace in the parking lot. Edward must have followed her.

He headed toward the door and then stopped with a near pained look on his face. Rubbing the back of his neck, he headed away. Stopping again, he held his arms out like he was reasoning with a child. Edward turned around again and took a step toward her again. He was talking to himself.

Bella assumed he was ditching his class as well. A look to the clock on the front desk told her lunch was barely over and there were three more periods until school was out. He was worried about her and she smiled the sort of smile one would give a dog obliviously doing adorable things.

So, maybe there was more to Edward Masen. He was thoughtful and funny when he was comfortable. It made Bella feel warm when he teased her. They way he looked at Emmett with compassion and the way he worked so seamlessly with Jasper.

Edward threw his arms up in the parking lot and made to turn around one last time before his green eyes caught Bella's. He froze, his eyes wide. She laughed a bit to herself and raised a hand to wave. He didn't move.

After a moment, Bella began to laugh harder as he had no idea what to do, caught in the middle of the parking lot. She couldn't hear him, but knew his own laughter was mortified. She rushed through the doors to meet him.

"You follow me?" she called to him from the door, jogging up to meet him.

"Tell me you weren't there long." His cheeks were still red and he adjusted his glasses nervously.

"I was there long enough. So, what? Playing hooky?" Bella tugged at the conversation like a maid on a wrinkled bed sheet. She wanted him to relax a bit.

He smiled weakly. "Everyone was wondering why you ran off…"

Bella blinked, her head tilting to the side in surprise, "I didn't think Alice or anyone saw me leave…"

"It was all over Mike's face," was all he could say. It confused Bella further. She wasn't even aware that Edward knew her other friends existed.

A pause stretched between them. She stared at him as he couldn't look up.

"Hey…"

He looked up and Bella touched his shoulder encouragingly before slipping her hand away. "Let's go do something. We've got like two and a half hours before schools out."

Edward smiled lightly. "Sounds fine. That's just enough time for you to corrupt the honor's student into more than ditching class."

Bella smiled and her chest warmed.

Edward had actually walked from the school. With an amused smile, Bella led him over to her truck. Pulling out, they rode in silence. The comfort that was around them in the parking lot had expended and an awkward mood hung in the cab.

"I think I'm just going home," Bella muttered. Renee wouldn't be home until late and Charlie hadn't been home much, still trying to figure out what happened at the Newton's shop.

"Alright." Edward didn't seem to notice the awkward pauses, leaning comfortably against the rattling window. Suddenly, he asked, "Are we ever going to talk about it?"

She gripped her steering wheel. "It was nothing, Edward."

He merely smirked and put his forehead back against the window. "Alright."

Random glimpses of dream Edward came about at the strangest times and Bella was noticing them more and more often.

Pulling up at her house, Bella stopped the car and busied herself with gathering her things so she wouldn't have to look at Edward. She felt his stare the whole time.

Bella let Edward inside, muttering inane things about the house and its mess, grumbling about Jacob and his hygiene habits and Charlie and his beer cans. Renee would have had a heart attack to know company was over.

She dropped her keys and her bag before standing awkwardly in the hall. Bella shifted from foot to foot. "The TV isn't really great but—"

Edward interrupted. "Can I see your room?"

Interestingly enough, this wasn't her dream Edward. There was a lack of confidence, as if he wasn't really sure why he was asking or what he would do if Bella refused. She couldn't say no.

The walk up the stairs was slow and she was very conscious of how close Edward was behind her. She even stopped to adjust a picture frame in the stairwell.

"Uh…it's a bit messy. I didn't…you know. Yeah." Bella stood in the corner of her room, her hands fisted at her sides. Edward wandered curiously, running his fingers over various things. They slid over a necklace laid out on the bureau.

"The girls gave me that…" Bella muttered from her spot across the room. He looked up at her, his head tilted to the side. "Jacob's sisters," she explained.

Edward nodded and decided to ask about it later. He really didn't know much about Jacob. He knew that they weren't related but Jacob didn't talk about family, never even looked like he had family other than the Swans. The necklace was beautiful and carefully thought out. Bella meant something to the Blacks.

She drifted closer to his side, eyes on the necklace. Edward wondered at the browns. He thought a lot about Bella and she interested him eternally. There was too much he didn't know.

Bella looked up and was surprised how close she was to Edward. He breathed deeply to keep himself from looking down. The smell of her shampoo wafted near and he fought the urge to let his eyes fall shut to enjoy it.

"I was dreaming. It was just a dream."

His eyes snapped up to meet hers. "I never thought to question that." Edward's voice was even, thinking back to her lips on his as they lay in the grass.

"I can see it," she murmured. "You think it was special. I was…just caught up in a dream."

Edward didn't let his eyes dart from hers. "Is it the sort of dream you'd tell Carlisle about?"

Bella's words were drawn and careful as she spoke, "Carlisle doesn't know anything about this dream. It was _just_ a dream, Edward."

Edward wasn't really thinking then, as his glasses fell down his nose. Both refused to be the first to look away. He was running as if _he _was dreaming, that he had no choice in everything he did, all he could do was watch and wonder.

"It didn't mean anything," were Bella's whispered words before she leaned up and kissed Edward.

She pressed herself against his body, the bureau rocking as she knocked into it. His hands weaved themselves into her hair, clutching her tight to him as they kissed. Bella was the first to slide her tongue into his mouth.

They didn't think about anything but each other as her hands slid under the hem of his t shirt. He let her cling to him, her fingers pressing into his skin. Bella shoved them backwards toward her bed, the only sound their heavy panting.

Edward pulled away from her and stared her in the eye. His hands tight on the nape of her neck, he twisted her around and pushed her back onto the bed. There was nothing said or thought as he kissed her again, huffing through his nose. Bella stretched beneath him, hands sliding further up his shirt. After another moment of his tongue in her mouth, she yanked the shirt over his head.

There was a slight hesitation as Edward's hand moved from her hair to the hem of her shirt. His was already across the room but it took the arch of her back to allow him to slide his hands under her shirt.

"Edward," she panted against the skin of his neck. There was a noise rumbling in the back of his throat as he kissed her again. Something was deep within him like a cat's purr.

No responsibility was ever to be taken there on Bella's bed. Neither of them could ever describe what it was like, how good it felt, when Edward pushed into her for the first time, his jeans still around his hips. There wasn't anyone to explain the long scratches down his back or the bruises on her collarbones to.

When Edward came, he strived for control, and bit down on Bella's shoulder. Her moan was as long as his choking breath. Her pelvis hovered over her disheveled comforter, pulsing around him.

As he pulled his pants up and wandered over to pick up his shirt, Bella rolled over, taking her comforter over herself. Edward carefully placed himself next to her on the bed, a hand running up her bare arm and putting her bra beside her. She didn't move.

A long silence stretched between them and Edward lay back, a hand still on her back facing him. He would let her speak first.

"I have to go pick Jacob up," was the first thing she said. Then she added, "I can take you and Emmett home too, if you need."

"You don't have to do that," he answered. Both of them kept even voices. She wanted to cry.

"I'll take you home." She was firm and Edward nodded at nothing.

"We're going to have to talk about this."

"Not now, Edward."

With her back facing Edward, Bella sat up and slid her bra straps on to her shoulders. A glance back over her shoulder was all he needed as his fingers moved up and slid the hooks into place. Bella looked at her lap.

"I think we should talk about this."

When she turned to him, Edward was surprised to see tears running down her cheeks. "What am I supposed to say, huh?" Her voice was thick. "'Sorry for letting you take my virginity?' or how about 'I'm going to have to tell Carlisle about this to see if I'm not pregnant.' You think those sound about right, Edward?"

He didn't respond right away. "I don't know what happened."

Bella pushed passed him and climbed out of bed in a huff. The comforter tangled around her ankles and she nearly tripped, only fueling her further. "Want to know what happened?" she croaked, fists tight at her sides. "Those stupid _dreams_ happened. I can't stop dreaming about you Edward. And not you _you_. No. I dream about pale skin and amber eyes and never fucking failing confidence. You look at me like I'm the last thing on this fucking planet."

Edward tried for the words to say. Her tears were falling freely. He honestly didn't even think about her virginity because he honestly didn't think about anything at all.

She wasn't done, a finger pointed at his face, "And you want to know what's worse? I _fell _for him. And I just slept with you to _find _him." Her arms wrapped around her waist for comfort. It didn't work.

Edward got out of bed slowly. He was much too conscious of the fact that he was fully dressed and she stood before him in her underwear. A deep hole was digging itself into his chest as he passed her to open her closet. Shoved in the back he found a cotton robe with moth bitten holes in it. He slid the robe over her shoulders and then without thought, wrapped his arms around hers, pulling her to his chest.

Her head fell forward, dropping shameless tears onto his hands tucked into hers. Edward's voice grumbled against her back. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Bella."

"This is so weird."

Edward actually laughed and soon, Bella's shoulders moved against his with her own hiccupping laughter. "You're _so_ right."

With a deep breath, Bella turned around to look at him. "After I see Carlisle… I want this to be like nothing ever happened. Please?"

Edward's green eyes dove into hers, striving to know more, understand more about everything. But she wouldn't give it to him.

"I'll let you get dressed," was all he said.

When Edward was gone, Bella caught a look at herself, her hair tangled at the back of her head and a robe falling off of her bare shoulders. She stared, completely unsure of how to go from there.

Her hands tightened into fists at her side. "This isn't right. Nothing is right."

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How's that for a plot twist? Review.


	9. Chapter 9

A quick little author's interlude: My birthday was yesterday--1/23. It was great. I felt great. After the little party I had, I had to take a friend of mine home. When I got to her house, we talked for like an hour or more. When I decided to check the time, it was 1:23am. 1 2 3. My favorite number and the day I was born. It made me feel lighter for some reason. I'm optimistic for life as it goes from here.

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy and review:

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The afternoon sun raised high above the Swans' house and glared through the cloud cover. The light flooded into the kitchen and the room was bright. Bella didn't notice. She stared down at the pill sitting on the kitchen table. With a deep breath, she picked it up and held it between her thumb and index finger. Her other hand gripping a glass of water, Bella watched the clock tick away. It was the only sound in the room next to Bella's breathing.

When the clock struck two, Bella closed her eyes and took the pill, following it with a generous drink of water. The glass clinked on the kitchen table and she let out a deep breath. It's done, she thought.

Bella yawned then, the noise filling up the small room. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Carlisle wasn't on call when she went looking for him at the hospital so she sat and waited. Of course he wasn't surprised when he saw her, but he looked curious. He took her into an empty room and listened at two o'clock in the morning.

Her story wasn't long but it took Carlisle a moment to take in. Once he understood, he knew exactly what she came to him for. When Carlisle left her in the quiet and dark room on the bed a part of him was disappointed she was there for more than his advice and comfort. As he signed the prescription, he thought about the dreams he had of himself. He wasn't the same Carlisle in his dreams.

"Alright, Bella. Take this one now and this one in twelve hours," Carlisle had said to her. "That'll be around 2:00 this afternoon, okay?"

Bella had nodded slowly. For a moment, Carlisle had wondered if he should leave her alone or not. Then she spoke.

"I don't know if I can do this."

He dropped down into a seat to listen. "I wasn't going to ask but..." Carlisle hesitated. "Did Edward—"

Bella had immediately shook head. "I sorta started it. It was consensual." She looked at her hands. "That's not what I meant."

A silence had passed between them before he tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Bella. Talk to me."

She looked at his hand on her shoulder, hair falling around her face and hiding it from his view. A hot tear dropped onto the back of his hand.

"I don't know who I am anymore." Bella's voice had cracked. "I don't know if _I _slept with Edward or if it was... something else." She paused as her train of thought changed. "A part of me is deeply in love with a part of Edward. And I don't know how to deal with that, Carlisle."

Carlisle's mind was working as his jaw clenched, thinking of every dream he'd had of Edward and Bella. He had seen four years of their relationship and the sacrifices and trials they endured for one another and for their love. He looked at the pills in Bella's hand and thought of their child.

"She's beautiful." He had spoken before he could stop himself. Bella looked at him, confused and followed his eyes to her hand. Carlisle wasn't sure what to say to fix his mistake as she connected the dots.

"We...have a—"

"You know I can't answer that, Bella."

Bella looked at her hands and her eyes filled with tears again. "How am I supposed to take this, Carlisle? You've just told me that I...that Edward and I have..." She couldn't say it and her mouth only moved without words. Her hand closed around the pills before making an angry noise.

She then shoved the first pill into her mouth and looking anxiously for the water Carlisle had brought for her.

Angry tears ran down her face when she gasped, the water taking the pill down her throat. "This is insane. I'm seventeen and I've known Edward Masen for nearly three _weeks_. We are not dating. We are not in love. We do not have a... a _child_. Having sex with him was a mistake. This stupid sci-fi shit us screwing with my life, Carlisle."

Carlisle took a deep, measured breath. "I understand, Bella. I...I'm not sure where we should go from here." He touched her hand lightly. "Do you wish to... separate yourself from this all? We won't ever bother you again if that's what you want..."

Bella hand stared at her hand under his and didn't say anything right away.

"I don't know. I'll...think about it." With that, Bella stood, letting his hand fall away and left with her last pill.

That pill was now stuck in her throat and every time she swallowed, Bella could feel it. She didn't really think about anything, not yet. A part of her wanted out of that whole mess. She didn't need relationship drama with Edward or family issues with Jacob that she knew where just around the bed. She didn't need to be questioning her very being because of some borderline insane dreams.

But she couldn't deny the part of herself that slept with Edward on a whim. And that was already done, she couldn't take it back. She hated to admit with an emergency contraceptive pill stuck in her throat, but she was nervous about what Edward thought of her—if he enjoyed himself or if he regretted it.

The front wall shook as the front door slammed. Renee shuffled into the kitchen, arms full of bags. Bella watched with apathetic eyes until her mother noticed her sitting in the chair at the table.

"Oh, Bells. I thought you'd still be over at Jessica's." Renee smiled. Bella forced a smile back, her eyes falling shut and waiting a moment before opening again.

"Naw, I left this morning. Jessica had a project to do with Angela and I didn't want to get in the way," Bella supplied, her crafted story moving easily from her lips. Renee's unworried brow furrowed.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have been a bother. You don't need to spend your Saturday all alone..."

Bella gave her mother a wry smile. "I'm fine, Mom. I didn't get much sleep anyway. It's nice to just relax, ya know?"

Renee's smile widened as she slid into the chair across from Bella, dropping her head into her hands and rubbing her temples. "Don't I know that." She smiled at her daughter lightly. "Things have been rough at work with Sue out." Her smile twisted into a scowl. "And your father doesn't seem to understand that I—"

Bella let out a long sigh. "Please, Mom. Not now."

Renee looked quickly up at Bella, eyes slightly wide. She was so used to criticizing Charlie, she never thought about it as it left her mouth. "I'm sorry." Renee looked at her hands sheepishly.

A paused passed before Bella spoke in a long sigh. "He tries as hard as he can."

Renee's voice was quiet. "I know."

"Why do you do this, Mom?" Bella leaned forward earnestly. "We all know you're not happy." Her mother looked furious and defensive and Bella could still feel the pill stuck in her throat.

"Young lady, I—" Renee tried but Bella wouldn't have it.

"No one would blame you..."

Bella watched her mother's fury and face collapse as the mask she had been spackling on for years cracked.

"It's not that easy, Bella..."

"And it's easy watching you two resent each other more and more each day? It's easy listening to you bicker at night up until you sneak down and sleep on the couch—pretending Jake and I won't notice?"

The mask cracked again as Renee wrapped around herself, trying to defend what was left. "This is the way things have to be."

Bella shoved away from the table. "You think you're helping anything by staying? Jacob hates himself every time you fight because he blames himself. You think it's easy for me to tell my mother to leave my father? Because none of this is easy and you bitching about Dad all day doesn't help a damn thing."

Renee was frozen in her spot as she watched Bella's eyes fill with tears. She wiped at her eyes furiously because she was so damn tired of crying. A little girl inside her was speaking. "You guys were supposed to live happily ever after—be together forever. If you hate him so much what does that mean for me? How am I supposed to love anyone when all I know is loving because you _have to_."

Bella flopped back into her seat, trying to stop crying, shoulders slouching and fists clenched tight. Her mother stared, dumbfounded, for a moment before rushing to her side, hands falling delicately onto Bella's shoulders.

"Bella," Renee tried weakly. Bella pulled away but Renee didn't give up so easy. She held her hands tight on Bella's shoulders before using a hand to force Bella to look her in the face. "Baby. I'm sorry."

A moment passed before Renee pulled the other chair close so when she sat, her knees rested against Bella's. "I am so sorry. I really am."

"Sorry doesn't mean shit," Bella snapped. It stung Renee and she closed her eyes in anguish before looking at her daughter with determination.

"Charlie and I... we know this doesn't work. But that doesn't mean we don't love each other. He will _always_ be my first love and we made a choice when Jacob came to live with us. We knew that once he was adopted, we couldn't leave each other hanging. No matter what, I never would have left your dad to raise Jacob alone. To raise you alone.

"And I know these past few years have been hard. I was easy to pretend everything worked out fine when you two were young. But now you're getting older and you don't need us as much. I get so stressed sometimes and I take it out on Charlie because... I know I shouldn't, alright?"

Renee settled into a resolve. "I know these past few years have been hard," she repeated. "But if I were to go back and do it all again? I would do the exact same thing. I would never be so selfish as to leave Charlie back then. You two are the most important things in our lives and we both know that neither of us could have done it on our own. Do you understand that?" She ended softly and Bella studied her hands.

"Since when do fairy tales involve responsibility?"

Renee laughed suddenly and pulled Bella into her chest, hugging her tight. "I love you so much, Bella. Your dad does too." She leaned back and looked Bella in the eye. "And I do love your father. I promise from now on I'll watch my mouth when I'm stressed, okay?"

Bella knew that it was little more than an empty promise but that pill had finally left her throat. "Alright."

Renee relaxed, her hands clutching Bella's tight. "Good." She took a deep breath to collect herself and when she opened her eyes, a smile pulled her lips apart. Slapping her knees, Renee stood and went about explaining what she got on her shopping trip.

Bella watched and smiled at all the appropriate moments, but she wasn't really listening. She found herself zoning out a few times before snapping back to her mother. Maybe there was more to her and Edward than compulsion.

Then she thought about the warmth in her chest when he teased her and how cute it was when Edward got flustered. He was a great kisser and their chemistry was undeniable. Their shared passion that afternoon before and the ability he had of wiping all worries and qualms from her mind made her feel lightheaded.

A small frown creased into Bella's face. She had no idea how much of that was actually herself. Their first kiss was because Bella mistook Edward for her dream man. Maybe that was still happening on a larger scale. Bella didn't like that she couldn't understand or control herself and she didn't like that Edward was still as much of a mystery as he had always been.

"Something wrong, babe?"

Bella snapped out of her thoughts to look at her mother, putting her shopping finds back in their bags.

"Fine, Mom." Bella pushed out of her chair and left her near full cup of water on the kitchen table. As she started up the stairs, the front wall shook again. She looked back, she saw Jacob in the front hall. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey," he called up. Bella forced a small smile and kept going.

At her closed bedroom door, she had trouble turning the knob. She wanted to cry again, facing the corner of the narrow hallway. It was all so much to handle and she had no one to talk to. And the only person who knew just how she felt had just experienced some extremely awkward after glow.

A hot presence was behind her and Bella stiffened in her spot. "What's wrong with you?" Jacob asked roughly. It may have sounded insensitive but Bella felt her privacy invaded as he so easily sensed her mood.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Bella sighed and turned back to look at her brother. With a sharp breath, she was instantly reminded of her first dream—of the alternate Jacob. She had never thought about that part of the dream in context. Why was the alternate Jacob so big? And if supposedly Bella and Edward were in a relationship, then why were they kissing.

Then she thought about it again. The dream had been in some sort of rewind and when she thought about it backwards, she saw a totally different story. This Jacob had forced a kiss on her and she punched him. And broke her hand. It was almost an amusing thought.

Suddenly she felt better in a small sort of way. There would be no compulsion to love Jacob like the one with Edward. That idea alone relaxed her momentarily. Jacob was staring at her with strange dark eyes.

"Bella? Are you still with me?" His dark hair was wet with rain and hanging in his face, a piece caught to his eyelash. He brushed it away.

"I'm fine, alright?" Bella crossed her arms with a bit of the attitude she usually gave him. That seemed to please him.

"You better be fine or I'll have to beat Masen up." He grinned an evil grin. Bella froze.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Jacob gave her a sly look. "You think you two were fooling anyone when you ditched yesterday? He followed like a minute later. You guys should really work on your timing if you really want to sneak around."

Anger at his assumptions popped inside her like water just beginning to boil. "There is _nothing_ going on, jerk."

Jacob laughed callously. "That's why he was with you when you picked me up. And you took him and Em home."

Tears sprung up in her eyes and Bella _hated_ that. She would not cry because Jacob was an idiot. "Shut up. You have no clue what you're talking about."

He studied her with narrow eyes. They widened slightly. "Man, you do like him, don't you? And there really isn't anything going on. That's why you're upset."

Bella dropped her eyes. There was no way he would ever understand and there was no way she would tell him. "You don't understand, Jacob. Just drop it."

He gripped her arm suddenly and urgently. "What's happening, Bella? Why are you blocking me out? We don't do that."

She knew he was exactly right but she didn't raise her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jake." His hand fell away.

The narrow hall was crowded and hot with their bodies and emotions. He stared at her carefully and curously before letting out a huff through his nose. He ran his hand nonchalantly through his hair.

"Fine," he finally conceded. "But I'm watching you, Swan."

As he spoke, his other hand came up and patted her cheek. There was no curve to his fingers or palm, nothing to caress or cup her cheek in the movement. It was something a protective brother did, not a lover. But never the less, as he moved away, the tips of his fingers ran down her cheek and her jaw before dropping to his side.

The fact that she noticed and was hyper aware of his touch on her flesh made Bella feel angry and disgusted. When he left her in the hall, she stood there a little too long before going into her room. She closed the door and leaned against it.

The lonely part of her that was created when she lost her virginity really wanted confide in Jacob. She wanted to tell him everything about Edward and Carlisle and wanted him to comfort her and threated to injure Edward. That lonely part wanted him to hug her and fill that lonely hole that was digging in her chest. Maybe the alternate Jacob meant more too her alternate self than she'd thought.

That made her uncomfortable.


	10. Chapter 10

Finally this is getting out there. I think you guys are spoilt with my frequent updates. When I was just a reader I didn't have new updates after a week at the latest xD Remeber guys, just because there are similarities in the dimensions, nothing will happen exactly the same or in the same order, if at all. Just keep that in mind.

Other than that, you guys are FANTASTIC. I love checking my email for your kind words. It really makes my day.

On another note, what do you guys think about Dakota Fanning=Jane in _New Moon_?

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Jacob stood in the hallway, stepping cautiously on the wooden boards under him. On Saturdays, Renee usually waited longer before moving to the couch and it was his only chance to get out while he could. He descended the stairs, expertly weaving down them, stepping on the sweet spot of each. He had never been caught but there was no harm in being cautious. A hand gripping the banister, he skipped the last step altogether because after years of idle steps and laundry waiting to be put away, it was the loudest.

At the front door, he looked around before slowly twisting the door knob. He cringed like he always did, feeling the wall ready to shake at the first movement of his wrist. No matter how many times he went through this, the same rush went through his veins.

A hand clutching the keys he'd stolen off the rack an hour ago, he swung the door open at the perfect speed to keep it from creaking. The front wall wavered but he was out before it had a chance to make a sound. Swiftly shutting the door around him, Jacob broke out into a full run to Bella's truck. He was in the driver's seat in a second as he blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"Hello, Jacob," a deep and ominous voice came from the darkness of the passneger's seat.. Jacob jumped in his spot, hands slamming into the steering wheel and his head hitting the top of the cab.

"_Jesus, _Quil. Don't do that!"

Quil was crying with laughter next to him. "Then tell Bella to lock the damn car!"

Just as Jacob's heart rate was slowing and he was sticking the key into the ignition, he turned to Quil to ask where Embry was. And at that exact moment, Embry slammed his open palm against the back window. Jacob made a small yelping noise. Quil laughed harder.

Embry leaped out of the bed of the truck and yanked Quil's door open. "Now that Jake's officially pissed himself, shove over, Quil."

Quil frowned. "No way, you're bitch," he declared as he got out to push Embry into the non existing center seat.

Embry shoved back. "Not cutting it, asshole."

Quil complained about Embry being smaller and Embry made inappropriate jokes. Finally, Jacob yanked Quil into the spot next to him. "You two need to shut the fuck up. You'll wake Charlie."

A long leg of Quil's uncomfortably shifted onto one side of the shifter as Embry pressed himself into the door with a satisfied smile. Jacob frowned as the truck rumbled to life. They rode off in near silence as Quil purposefully lay against Embry to make him as uncomfortable as possible in shotgun.

"How's everything on the rez?" Jacob finally asked as he headed toward La Push. No matter the weather, Jacob, Quil and Embry always met up on Saturday's to hang out at First Beach. Friends since before the accident, they refused to let it separate them—no matter what the council said.

"Fine," Embry muttered without really answering the question.

"How'd you guys get over here anyway?"

Quil smiled. "I'm staying over at Em's and Ms. Call sent us to get groceries three hours ago." Embry frowned out the window. Obviously, Ms. Call had no clue they were still gone and Jacob wondered how much she really cared. "We hoofed it."

Jacob looked at Quil like he was crazy. "All the way from La Push? _Why_?"

Embry shrugged. "It's not like we did it fast. We just figured if we stayed on the main road, you'd see us when you passed on your way to the beach. Then we just ended up at your house."

Jacob still glanced over suspiciously as he kept his eyes on the road. Quil and Embry exchanged a meaningful glance but the set frowns on their faces said that they weren't sure why they felt that way. Quil then said, "It was kinda...nice. It's gotta be like forty degrees out but I didn't feel it at all. And it was probably the longest walk of my life but..." He trailed off and Embry looked like he wouldn't be able to explain any better.

More silence passed in the cab of the truck until Jacob turned off the main road toward the beach. "How's Bella?" Embry asked congenially.

Jacob frowned to himself. "Strange. Ever since our camping trip, she's been acting so weird. I think Masen did something funny."

Quil snorted. "About time she got some action..."

"Gross, man, she's my sister." Jacob had some other choice words for Quil but kept them in.

"So are they together?" Embry asked, shoving Quil over with his shoulder. Jacob shrugged.

"No clue. I don't think so."

"Nah, she would have told you, man," Embry assured as Jacob parked the truck. In the night they could see down the long low tide beach stretch before them. None made a move to leave the encased heat of the truck cab. Quil shifted uncomfortably.

"Glad you didn't ditch us again, man," Quil smiled at Jacob and Embry rolled his eyes. Quil hadn't meant it the way it sounded but Jacob huffed and pushed out of the truck and into the cold anyway.

Quil watched after him, confused. Embry eyed his friend before scoffing and getting out after Jacob. Embry called after him.

"What'd I do?" Quil followed the others out onto the beach.

Jacob was standing in the sand, looking out at the dark waters with his hands dug into his pockets. Embry came up next to him slowly. It was true, the weekend before Jacob had broken tradition to go camping with Bella and those other kids, but Embry knew it meant nothing for their relationships. It wasn't as if one weekend would end years of friendship.

"Remember when we used to say once we were big enough, we'd go out to James Island?"

Jacob smiled at Embry's quiet musings, looking out into the waters at the dark mass that he knew was the island, just off shore.

"To get away from everything and just play Pokemon all day." Jacob laughed lightly.

Quil had joined them and was strangely quiet himself. "I guess there's a lot more to get away from these days..."

The wind blew the sand around their ankles and the waves crashed. There was a silent agreement.

"How's everything on the rez?" Jacob asked for the second time that night. Embry took a deep breath.

"I've been avoiding the council all week. It's like the older they get the more fucking annoying they get."

Quil scoffed. "Dad makes sure that at some point in everyday he mentions how the reservation is your _proper place_. Bullshit."

Jacob knew Quil didn't quite believe that. He knew that Quil really wanted Jacob on the reservation, if only to make everything easier—to stop all the looks he and Embry got at school and to end all the pressure from the elders to persuade Jacob to come back. But it was nice that Quil respected his decisions and the Swans. It meant a lot.

The sand crunched behind them. Turning back quickly, Jacob stiffened with his eyes wide. The man stood tall, towering over them. His hair fell down past his shoulders and whipped around him in the wind. It would have hung in his face but in the icy wind is showed his hard angry face for all it's worth. Across his face was a long scar and his eyes face was tight and weathered prematurely. He was strong and lean but one shoulder hung lower than it should have—broken and never properly healed. His fists were tight against his side and he was poised for whatever Jacob and his friends had for him—as if they would ever stand a chance.

"Uley." Quil's voice was low and measured. He wasn't happy. Embry had unconsciously moved closer to his friends.

"Black," came his hard rasp. He had no interest in the other two.

"What do you want, Sam?" Jacob forced himself to relax. Same Uley wasn't t here to hurt them, not matter their fears. He had to make himself to believe that.

"Do you know anything about a Carlisle Cullen?"

The question took Jacob by surprise. Despite Sam's distance from the tribe, he was fiercely loyal and Jacob had expected him to be there on behalf of the council or even to force him back onto the reservation. Nothing about a doctor in a town over.

Slowly, he answered, "He's a doctor. He treated Bella." After a moment, he added, "And another friend."

Automatically, Sam said, "Edward Masen."

Jacob nodded stiffly. "What's this about, Sam?"

Sam stared at them with measured eyes. It looked as if he could answer that question ten different ways. Finally, he decided to say, "I don't care about you and your pale-faced family, but make sure Bella stays away from him."

"Who?"

"Cullen." For a moment, Jacob was sure he was going to say Edward.

"I don't know what you're getting at, Sam, but I think Bella can take care of herself."

Sam looked momentarily furious and Jacob wondered at the shake in his closed fists. As soon as it was there, it was gone. He looked as level as ever. "Just keep an eye on her."

"Get the hell out of here, freak!" Everyone turned to look at Quil gritting his teeth. Sam watched him for a moment before turning to leave but Jacob didn't miss the ghost of a smile crossing his tight lips. The three of them watched Sam Uley leave them on the beach. He took off in a run the moment he was off the beach.

"What was that, Quil?" Embry looked over at him curiously.

Quil looked away quickly. "I can't stand that guy."

Jacob smiled weakly at Quil. "I don't know if I'd call him a frea—"

Quil turned angrily on Jacob. "I _know_ he's a freak, okay? I mean, look at him. Everyone says he did that to himself—" Quil gestured to his face, "—and have you seen his shoulder? What kind of person doesn't go to a damn _hospital_? He used to be at my family dinners all the time, always sucking up to Old Quil like he was something special."

Jacob looked at Embry quickly, who was looking at the sand with a furrowed brow. Embry knew that Quil felt that way—Jacob had no clue.

Quil continued, "It's like he's trying to take your place—your damn birthright. He had the nerve to speak at Old Quil's funeral, like he really knew him. And I'm sure you know what everyone says that _he's_ what happened to Emily Young."

Embry looked up quickly. "You're going too far, Quil."

Quil sneered. "Think about it, Em. They go off on some random camping trip and she comes back on a stretcher. Even if it was a bear, what kind of man let's a helpless woman get mauled?"

Jacob tried to reach out to Quil. He pulled away. "But I guess you don't know any of this because _you're never here_."

Jacob dropped his hands abruptly. It was as if he'd been slapped and the chilling air burned even hotter on his skin. He took a step away from the others, toward the water.

"I'm sorry, Quil."

Quil was looking at the sand with his arms crossed. His anger faltered under the palpable sting that came from Jacob. His pride wouldn't let him apologize back. Embry watched them angrily, angry at the whole situation.

But Jacob knew Quil almost better than Quil himself, despite living off the reservation. "You know I can't leave the Swans. They've done so much for me; I can't turn my back on them."

Quil was relaxing and his brow furrowed in shame. He was threatened by Sam Uley, Jacob and Embry knew. He had the respect of his grandfather, who had been one of the most influential elders on the council. Even as an outsider to a lot of people his age, Sam was a strange sort of confidant to the elders. That's why he hated Sam Uley so much. But he didn't have to say it—Jacob and Embry knew.

"Stop being a pair of pussies."

Quil and Jacob looked at Embry, who was smiling like the jerk who called his friends pussies. He grinned and then said, "Stop with all the mushy shit."

Quil looked angry for a second. "You shut the hell up, Call."

Embry stuck is tongue out and cried, "Make me, pussy."

With an almost playful growl, Quil chased after Embry and got him in a headlock but that wasn't the end of it. Jacob laughed at them and silently thanked Embry for breaking the mood.

Edward threw the comforter angrily off of him in his bed. He curled up so his feet weren't hanging off of the mattress and tried to sleep again. No luck. He made an exasperated noise before turning over again.

"Really, Edward. Can't you just sleep?" came a voice across the room. Edward had the decensy to feel abashed.

"Sorry, Emmett."

But Emmett knew there was more. He flicked on the lamp next to his bed and sat up, staring levelly at Edward. "What's up?"

After a moment of thinking about it, Edward felt he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon anyway so he reached over and grabbed his glasses, putting them on. Then he wondered how much he should tell Emmett.

Instead, he asked, "You dream about a woman?"

Emmett's face stoned over and his brow furrowed. "Did Swan tell you that? Because she doesn't have a clue what she's talking about."

Edward smiled slightly to himself. "Yeah, she did, but not because she was just being nosey. It's....it's complicated. But I wanna know about the girl you dream about."

Emmett stared at Edward for a long moment before sighing. "It's nothing special or anything," he started.

"Tell me." Edward's voice was low and curious.

Emmet leaned back and stared at the ceiling, thinking of the woman in his dreams. "She's so beautiful. I can't even describe it. Her hair is long and blond and she's... what gets me is how she looks at me. Like I'm the only reason she's happy in life and... no one's ever made me feel l like that."

Edward wondered at his description and couldn't help but think about their relationship in the other dimension. Then, in a passing thought, he wondered if Emmett got hurt, would he heal fast like Edward had? He was a vampire in DX as well...

Then Edward went back to his foster brother. They'd both had foster families before but Edward and Emmett had a deeper bond. It's the sort of bond that runs between the victims under the hand of power. They knew what the other felt and they knew that one day, it would all be over.

"We're gunna get out of here some day, Emmett. Then you can find her."

Emmett scoffed and rolled over in bed. "Sleep, Masen."

Without another thought, Edward blurted, "I had sex with Bella."

Slowly, Emmett looked back, his eyes wide in surprise but Edward wouldn't look at him. "What the hell—when?"

Edward studied his hands. "Yesterday. After I followed her."

Emmet thought about it. "That's why things were so awkward in the car when she took us home." Edward nodded.

"It was...unexpected. She went to Carlisle last night."

Emmett was completely taken aback. From all he knew about Edward, jumping into bed with girls he'd just started to get to know wasn't one of them. Then he looked at Edward, confused. "Carlisle?"

Edward sighed. He'd said too much but there wasn't any use keeping things from Emmett. "The doctor that treated me after the car accident. He's...a friend."

"You went with her, right?"

Edward looked up sharply. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. "Why would I?"

Emmett was staring as if Edward had grown a second head. "Maybe to be less of a douchebag? Seriously, Edward. Why _wouldn't_ you go with her to the doctor? It's your responsibility too."

A sort of shame crossed Edward's mind and Emmet saw it pass behind his glasses. Edward _really_ hadn't thought of it. Lamely, he tried, "I didn't want to make things anymore awkward..."

Emmett scoffed. "You just let her sit in a hospital alone all night while she received emergency contraceptives for her unprotected sex. I'm sure you could have endured the awkardness to be there for her."

Edward dropped his head into his palms momentarily before pulling his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "I can't do anything right."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Grow up. What you need to do right now, is think. You can't just have sex with a chick and expect everything to go back to normal."

"I know that, Emmett. I...I don't know what I want."

"Really should have thought of that before you let a girl give her most vulnerable self to you."

Looking up at Emmett, Edward felt that was the most poingant thing he'd ever heard his foster brother say. "I know. Thanks, Emmett."

A silence passed between them before Emmett slowly broached a new subject. "What about...getting tested...?"

Edward laughed out loud. "It's not like I have anything to give her, Emmett."

Emmett wouldn't look at him suddenly. "What about...Bella?"

For a moment, a protective streak shot through Edward before his eyes widened in realization. There was someone else he hadn't thought about. His eyes dropped and his face went blank. "So you know about that too, huh?"

"I found them in the hallway the day of your accident."

A pain stabbed at Edward's throat. "Oh."

"He didn't look too happy."

Edward looked up at that. Relief flooded in his shoulders as they relaxed when he realized something Bella had said to him after the fact. "She was a virgin. She said so."

"Alright." It seemed to satisfy Emmett and he sighed through his nose. There was a silent end to the conversation as Edward took his glasses off and Emmet started to lay back again. With a glance to the blurry clock, it read 4:35.

Suddenly, Edward's phone buzzed on the bedside table. Edward jumped at the sound before grabbing at it. He couldn't read the small screen before he flipped it open and answered.

"Hello?"

A stressed voice came through—not panicking, but worried none the less. "Edward, it's Bella. Do you know where Jacob is?"


	11. Chapter 11

So this got finished _a lot_ sooner than I thought it would considering the last one took me around a week to write while I started this one this afternoon. But I decided I wouldn't leave you waiting (like I would anyway...)

So here's 11. Hey, into the double digets down, woo.

* * *

Edward rubbed his eyes blearily, though he had never actually fallen asleep. He wasn't sure what to say first. The obvious would be to answer her question but Edward always over thought things. "Uh...no."

Bella sighed exasperatedly on the other end. "Are you sure? Has he talked to Emmett or something?"

Edward looked over at his brother watching him curiously. "Em, did Jacob talk to you? Bella doesn't know where he is."

"No..." Emmett thought for a second. "But doesn't he always sneak out on Saturdays? I heard Bella say so herself."

Edward relayed Emmett's message and Bella sucked in another worried breath over the phone. "Yeah, he does but he's usually back by now. I...I guess I'm worried."

A part of Edward melted. He looked back up at Emmett who was scowling at Edward's dreamy expression. "She says he's usually back by now." He turned his attention back to Bella. "Do you want to go out and look for him?"

Bella's hesitation was palpable and Edward couldn't tell if it was because his suggestion was a little forward or if she was rethinking going somewhere with _him_.Emmett eyed him from across the room.

"Dude, if you act like it will be awkward, you'll _make_ it awkward."

Edward looked up at Emmett's quiet words and then refocused on the phone. "If it's the three of us, I'm sure we can find him fast."

Bella didn't answer right away and Edward squirmed. Finally she said, "It's just...what if something happened to him?" Her voice dropped as if Emmett could hear. "Like...the van with you. Something Carlisle dreamed about." And suddenly Edward understood why she was so worried.

"We'll find him."

Before she hung up, she said, "Be waiting outside your house. I'll be over in five minutes."

Ten minutes later Bella was anxiously gripping the wheel of Renee's Jeep as she watched everything but the road. The trees looked angry and dark as she looked for every sign of movement at all. The early morning was wet and the skies were stormy but it wasn't raining. Bella knew just where Jacob would have headed that night—if something didn't get in the way. Emmett sat facing the passenger window next her her, silent as ever.

Strangely, when she looked over at him, his eyes caught hers and caught him staring at her with sympathetic eyes. Bella felt slightly insulted to feel like he was pitying her for whatever reason but another part of her was intrigued by the emotion he rarely showed.

"Where are we going, Bella?" Edward leaned between the seats. He was slightly thankful that Emmett spared him from sitting next to Bella for the ride but he felt out of the loop in the back seat.

"First Beach."

"On the reservation?"

Bella looked over at Emmett curiously. "Yeah, why?"

He looked down for a moment with a furrowed brow. Then he shook something off before looking back up at Bella. "Nothing."

Edward watched Emmett. "Why First Beach?"

"That's where Jacob and his friends go every Saturday. They used to play there when Jacob still lived on the reservation."

A silence passed between them. Edward didn't think about Jacob's life before the Swans but suddenly he was interested. Emmett asked the question first. "What happened?"

Bella took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We used to play a lot when we were younger and when...my mom was on an extended business trip, our dads got really close. Then Jacob's parents got into this really bad car accident. Dad was actually babysitting us for Billy. I remember Charlie getting so frustrated with us. Rebecca and Rachel were no help and Jacob and I were tearing the kitchen apart when Dad got the call from the hospital.

"Rachel and Rebecca went to live with their grandfather in Seattle but... Billy was technically the Quileute chief and the tribe wouldn't let Jacob go so far away. Suddenly, Jacob was living with us and Renee was back like she'd never left."

It wasn't something Bella liked to talk about. She didn't remember it much, the time before Jacob was with them but she hated thinking about it at all—just the idea of Charlie and Bella alone waiting for Renee to finally break her false pretenses. Once Jacob was with them, she couldn't leave again.

Emmett watched her face and suddenly understood why Jacob meant so much to Bella—beyond a brother and everything else. Jacob brought their family together and made everything better to her little naive eyes.

"How long was her business trip?"

Bella looked sharply at Emmett. He was much more intuitive than she'd originally thought. She looked back at the road, gritting her teeth. "Four years."

Edward stared between them, feeling even more the odd man out. Why hadn't he noticed something strange about Renee's business trip? Why was he so good at reading everyone else _except_ Bella? Then an uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach that had nothing to do with Bella. He looked around and suddenly he didn't want Bella to go any further. Glancing at Emmett and the look in his near sick eyes told Edward that he felt the same way.

"Bella, are we almost there?"

She glanced at Edward in the rear view mirror. "Yeah, actually, the rez line is right up ahead." As she kept moving, approaching the line between not on the reservation and on it, the complete wrongness of it all made Edward sick.

Bella looked at them, confused. "What's going on, guys?

Emmett had a hand over his mouth when he said, "This doesn't feel right." Edward snapped to look at Emmett.

"He's right. It doesn't. You feel fine, don't you, Bella?" Looking at him breathlessly, she nodded. Edward looked at her meaningfully. "_We're—_" he motioned Emmett and himself "—not supposed to be on the reservation."

She locked eyes with him in understanding before looking back on the road. "I'm not turning around." Edward saw a determination in her face. "This isn't..._that place_, Edward. And it has no hold over us."

He was taken aback by her sudden defiance. She was backpedaling. Edward blushed slightly. Their afternoon together was the ultimate example of their alternate selves taking hold of this dimension and she was telling him that it would never happen again. That she wouldn't let it happen again. He wasn't sure if he wanted it to happen again.

Emmett watched them silently, mind working to figure out what they were talking about. Through it, the sickness passed once they were in La Push and Bella felt better now that their true selves were still in control.

One moment the road was dark and Bella moved steadily as they all kept looking for Jacob or anyone else who was walking out in the early morning. The next moment, Emmett was flinging toward the windshield only to be snapped back against his seat. Edward wasn't buckled in and he flipped onto the center console, hitting his head on the dashboard. Even though the Jeep came to a screeching halt in the middle of the dark road, her foot was plastered to the brake and she was frozen with her eyes wide at the boy in the road.

"Embry?!" She screeched before throwing the Jeep into park and struggling to get out faster than her shocked body would take her.

Embry was staring at the grill of the Jeep with terrified eyes. He was breathing heavily and Bella had to shake him for him to even look at her. "What the _hell _are you doing, running out in front of a car?"

He stared unseeingly at her, still shocked by the proximity of the Jeep. Embry shook it off. "Oh, good it's you. It's Jacob—_he's sick._"

Bella's face crumbled. "Where is he? Why are you guys out in the middle of the woods?"

Embry was already headed back into the woods before he answered. In the road, Emmett had shoved Edward out of the way and pushed himself into the driver's seat. Quickly, he put it back in drive before pulling over to the shoulder and getting out too. Edward wasn't soon behind.

Bella was on Embry's heels as they all ventured into the darkness of the woods, even as the light around them began to gray with early morning sun. "We went to find this tree we used to play in as kids and he kinda collapsed. He's _burning_ hot and we weren't sure if we could move him. Quil and him are just ahead."

Bella anxiously wrung her hands together and as she thought about Jacob, she didn't think about where her feet were going. She tripped and fell against Edward's warm shoulder and he quickly brought her hands up to keep her from tumbling to the wet forest floor. They _really_ looked at each other for the first time since the afternoon before and Bella blushed furiously. She still wanted him.

When they passed a line of trees, Bella gasped when she saw Jacob sitting on a rock with his head in his hands. He looked up and his face was clammy and gross. He smiled weakly at them before turning to the side and puking soundly. Edward and Emmett cringed as Quil held back Jacob's hair.

"Who're these guys?" Quil wasn't exactly welcoming. There was an edge to his voice that was inexplicable.

"This is Edward Masen and Emmett McCarty. Friends of Jake's," Bella answered quickly. "C'mon, let's get him to the Jeep. We have to get him to the hospital."

"To Carlisle?" Edward asked her quietly, rushing to Jacob's other side. Quil stiffened and nearly pulled Jacob toward him. Bella was nodding without thought.

"We'll take him someplace on the rez," he said stubbornly. Jacob coughed out a choked laugh.

"Calm down, kids," he chided. He obviously wasn't sick enough to lose his good humor. "It's okay, Quil. That Doc treated both Bells and Eddie here. Every thing will be fine."

Emmett smirked at Edward who scowled at the nickname. On three, Edward and Quil heaved Jacob onto his feet. He nearly fell forward and Emmett and Embry both went forward to catch his chest. Eventually and taking turns, they made it out to the main road. Embry, Quil and Emmett waited with Jacob there on the shoulder as Edward and Bella got back into the Jeep to go get Bella's truck that the boys had left at the beach.

In the silence, Edward only said one thing before they got to the truck and Bella handed the keys over. "I'm sorry I didn't go to the hospital with you last night."

Bella didn't say anything. They both drove back to where the other waited and they put Jacob into the Jeep because it was a smoother ride. Embry let Quil ride in the Jeep as he decided to ride with Edward and Emmett. Their ride wasn't exactly comfortable.

At the hospital, Jacob wasn't looking any better than when they found him in the woods. His brow was dripping sweat and every sharp stop and turn made him threaten the need for a new upholstery. Bella was relieved when they got to the hospital.

Edward puttered in behind her, looking disgruntled at the state of Bella's truck. Everyone wanted to help Jacob in but Bella ran in ahead, praying that Carlisle was on call. Slamming herself into the front desk in front of a startled nurse, she demanded Dr. Cullen.

He came through the emergency room doors quickly, whipping around, looking for Bella. He approached her at only near human speed and her eyes widened on his legs. She'd never see him move so fast—almost like the dream of Emmett and the woman where he fought the blond vampire. Carlisle noticed and put his speed in check, but his vast mind had only just begun to go through the probabilities of why she could be there again so soon.

Carlisle smiled weakly at her. "We see much too much of one another, Bella."

She didn't smile back. Before she could tell him why she was there, Emmett lead the way through the sliding doors as Quil and Embry came through with Jacob and Edward followed behind.

"Quil, Embry, Jacob, Emmett, Edward," Carlisle checked them off. "What _happened_?"

Bella watched his face sharply. He _knew_ them, meaning he'd dreamt about them. "Jacob's sick. He's been vomiting and he's burning up."

Carlisle watched them, completely startled. The group came up to Bella and Jacob smiled weakly at Carlisle, his eyes falling shut in fatigue as he sagged against Quil. "No. No, this isn't right."

Edward's mouth dropped slightly before getting closer to him and turning his back on the others. "_You saw this_?" Carlisle nodded then shook his head.

"It's not right," he muttered. Carlisle wasn't listening to them, stuck in his own thoughts. He snapped back into reality as he called for a stretcher. "Let's get him a room."

Things settled in uneasily as they worked to fill out paperwork and nurses took Jacob's vitals. They exchanged confused looks as none of his symptoms matched up. They decided to leave it to Dr. Cullen. Carlisle let everyone into Jacob's room but held Edward and Bella outside for a moment.

"What is it, Carlisle? What's wrong with Jacob?" Bella was fearing the worst. Edward instinctively brushed her elbow in an attempt to comfort her.

Carlisle took a deep breath. "It's a long story but right now... we need to make sure he's as comfortable as possible." The words sounded earily like the once given to a family who's loved one couldn't be saved.

Her stress levels spiked. "_What_?"she shrieked and Carlisle cringed.

"He'll be fine...just different. But we'll run the normal tests. He could just be sick..."

Bella wrung her hands and looked at Jacob through the window on his room door. Edward put a warm hand on top of hers. She looked down at his, but didn't move away. After a moment, Edward broke and went into Jacob's room. Before she could follow, Carlisle caught her arm.

"Are you okay?" His voice was soft and probing. Bella watched through the window again.

With a sigh she answered, "I'll...be fine."

The hospital room was crowded as Quil and Embry shoved over on one side of the bed and Emmett sat in a chair in the opposite corner. Edward stood near him while Bella took a spot by his pillow.

Jacob smiled blearily up at her. "It's like your second home, Bells." Bella snorted at him.

"Loser," she muttered affectionately. "You're lucky you didn't puke in Mom's car. She'd kill you." She tucked a piece of his long sweaty hair behind his ear and brushed the sticky pieces off of his forehead. Edward shifted in the corner.

Carlisle slipped into the room silently and no one looked up right away. Quil and Embry looked anxious. "What is it, Doc?" Jacob muttered.

With a deep breath Carlisle looked up. "We're not sure yet, Jacob." He smiled solemnly at Quil and Embry. "Hi, boys. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen." They nodded in acknowledgment while he turned to Edward and Emmett. "Nice to see you again Emmett, Edward. How's the leg?"

Edward smiled fakely. "Still a little stiff," he muttered awkwardly. No one but Bella noticed.

"I think it's just a bit of the flu but we'll just check to make sure." No one felt better.

There was a noise at the window. Everyone jumped. There was another noise that turned into angry knocking. Carlisle stiffened, smelling the stench outside the second story window. "Oh god." Bella and Edward looked at Carlisle urgently.

Quil gingerly pulled the blinds back and Bella screamed. Crouched on the narrow window sill, an angry face hovered in the early morning light. Quil jumped back, cursing. Everyone broke out into momentarily terrified exclamations.

Carlisle took two steps to the window and threw it open. Quil looked furious and Bella was still terrified. Sam Uley calmly yet stiffly stepped into the small hospital room and no one spoke. Edward instinctively pressed against the wall farthest away from Sam and Emmett scooted back in his chair as well.. Carlisle moved quickly to close all the blinds and to lock the door. Everyone was on edge.

"_What the hell are you doing here?_" Quil was furious, his fists clenched tight. Embry reached up and held him back.

Sam was very calm but as he clenched his jaw the single scar across his face tightened gruesomely. His voice was vicious and threatening as he spoke. Bella couldn't see his face veiled behind the curtain of greasy black hair. He ignored Quil's question. "What is this, Cullen?"

Carlisle was stiff. Bella watched him. Was he actually afraid? What in the world would scare a centuries old vampire. Her heart beat faster.

"He's sick, Sam. They brought him to me. It's merely a coincidence. I promise you."

Sam surveyed the room. The old person who met his gaze was Jacob. Sam felt subordinated by that stare. Silence filled the room.

Carlisle asked the question. "Is it...is it happening?"

Sam didn't look up, only examining Jacob with quick, sharp eyes. It certainly seemed Jacob was going through what Sam had gone through years before but he wasn't satisfied. With a deep, jarring inhale, he shook his head. "No. He's merely sick."

Carlisle let out a relieved breath and suddenly everyone else was left in further confusion. Bella wouldn't have it. "We're not going to do this, Carlisle."

"We'll talk about it later, Bella." Carlisle eyed the rest of the room, who listened in intently. Bella shook her head. Carlisle became more urgent. "_We'll talk about this later._"

Edward reached out toward Bella but settled on saying, "Not now, Bella."

She hated being brushed off. It had gone on long enough. "_No._"

Emmett watched her with wide, surprised eyes.

"We are going to _sit down_ and _talk_ about this. Everyone will know. We all obviously are being effected by this, Carlisle and _I _won't sit by and let my _life_ get fucked with on a daily basis!"

Jacob looked weakly at Bella with a furrowed brow. "Am I the only one missing something?" Quil and Embry shrugged helplessly.

Bella whirled on him. "No, you're not, Jake, we're all missing something." She smiled at Carlisle. "And _he's _going to explain everything."

"Bella, our research—" That was the wrong thing for Carlisle to say.

"I don't give a _shit _about research!" Embry jumped slightly at her anger. "I can't _do_ this, Carlisle! Edward nearly died and now Jake's sick and there's this creepy tall dude that scares the shit out of me and I...and I don't know who I am any more..." Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, choking on her own emotion periodically.

Edward stepped up and suddenly without thought, pulled her to his chest. It physically hurt to see her cry. Jacob frowned. Carlisle watched with exasperated eyes.

After a moment of looking at every face, he decided. Embry was confused and intrigued while Quil next to him was focusing his angry energy on Sam standing in the middle of the room. Jacob was delirious but angry that he couldn't understand what was going on. Emmett was the most calm, perked with attention as his eyes darted from person to person, investigating. Bella had her head on Edward's chest, staring blankly at the ground as Edward rocked her slightly in his arms.

"Fine. We'll talk. But we won't do it here."

Carlisle got off in two hours, right as the morning shift started. He would sent Bella and Edward and to fetch the others and make sure Sam stayed away from everything before he lashed out. Jacob and Quil and Embry would stay at the hospital until his shift was up and could discharge. They would meet at Carlisle's house in three hours. He would deal with it then.

* * *

I love everything you guys have to say, so review and let me know what you thought! It's always fun to read the theories, though they don't really effect how the story goes, mostly because I have a horrible memory for stuff like that. Even if I thought it was the best idea ever, I'd totally forget it existed when I sat down to write a chapter xD

But tell me anyway!


	12. Chapter 12

A little over two hours later, Bella found Edward in the last bedroom on the left. He was standing in the bare room, staring at the walls.

"This is my room," he said, sensing her in the doorway. In that house everything was sharper to Edward and it scared him. It said that Dimension X was close. Bella stepped slowly into the room.

"What do you mean?" She'd calmed down in the car ride over to the Whitlocks and she spent more time thinking than talking. Bella's voice was quiet.

"We have this same house...over there. And this is my room."

Peaked with curiosity, Bella asked, "How do you know?"

With a sigh, all Edward could answer was, "I...just do."

Bella jumped when Carlisle appeared where she'd stood mere seconds before in the doorway with an apologetic smile. They both stared with startled eyes.

"Sorry. It's hard to hide what I am in my own home." It was weird to think that Carlisle thirsted for their blood or that he was anything other than human. He smiled again and stepped to the side, motioning for them to come into the hallway. "Alice and Jasper are here. I think everyone's a little anxious and I'm assuming most of you didn't get a lot of sleep. I'll try to make this fast."

"But _everything, _Carlisle," Bella warned as she headed for the stairs. Carlisle scoffed lightly.

"That would be a terribly long story, Bella. I'll tell you all that you need to know now and answer any questions that you have. But I promise you, I will not keep anything else." He stopped at the top of the stairs, watching Edward and Bella descend them as they had in his countless dreams.

"What is it, Carlisle?" Edward asked softly.

Slowly, he answered. "You were right, Bella. There is more to this than a temporal and spacial interference. Something is broken and we need to fix it."

Determination set in their faces and it made Carlisle proud in the strangest way. With identical nods, they went down into the stark living room that was the busiest it had ever been. Quil and Embry sat uncomfortably on one white sofa next to Jasper and Alice. She had that confident smirk but Jasper held her close for any support. His eyes were open in curiosity because when Edward and Bella stopped by their house at six in the morning they didn't have anything to say but give Jasper an address and a time to meet them.

Jacob lounged on the end of the sofa at the corner of the one Quil and Embry sat on. Edward sat on the other end of that sofa and Bella sat between them. She automatically turned to Jacob, touching his forehead. He grinned at her.

"I'm _fine, _Bella. Carlisle said everything was cool."

Bella wasn't really satisfied but took her hands away anyway. Edward watched them out the the corner of his eye. Emmett was wandering the room, staring out at the forest through the huge glass windows. As Edward watched his foster brother, he realized that Emmett was feeling at home as well. In the very far corner stood Sam with his arms crossed and nose scrunched in disgust. The action wrinkled his scar.

Quil didn't look happy. "Jacob, _what _is this?"

Jacob rolled his head over to look at Quil and he shrugged lazily. "No clue. Bella?"

She closed her eyes then opened them slowly. When she spoke, it wasn't only to Jacob or Quil, but to the entire room. "I'm positive that at first, you won't believe a word Carlisle is about to say. I know I didn't at first. But...sometimes we have to suspend our disbelief."

Edward smirked at her, then added, "Just trust what feels right." He was sure that that would be enough.

Carlisle took that as his cue. He addressed Alice and Jasper at first. "Thank you for coming, Alice, Jasper. I've always wanted to meet you..." Jasper furrowed his brow at Carlisle but remained quiet. "I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen." With a deep breath, he then said, "I am three hundred and fifty nine years old."

Alice and Jasper were very easy to convince. Bella watched them very closely. Alice touched his cold hands, like Bella had, and stared at him for a long time. Jasper easily went along with Alice. Emmett didn't say much as he watched in the corner and nearby, Sam didn't move at all. Quil got angry, like Bella had as well, for insulting their intelligence. Embry did more trying to calm Quil down than think about Carlisle's confession. Jacob's grin dropped off of his face and he stared very seriously at Carlisle. Bella got nervous watching his face work. He looked over at her suddenly, his eyes boring in deep.

"You believe him, Bella?"

Quietly she said, "If you knew what I do, you wouldn't doubt it." He nodded to her once and settled back to listen to the rest of the story. Carlisle kept his human and early vampire history brief, only describing his experience in Chicago in 1918. Then mentioned only a touch of the torture he described to Bella and Edward because his audience wasn't as sympathetic. Then he got to Chicago in 1987.

"His name was Edward Masen, Jr. And it was then I knew that I wasn't crazy."

Everyone, even Quil, was engrossed in the story as Edward and Bella had been the first time. Whether they believed it or not, it was completely intriguing. Sam became more and more uncomfortable in the corner.

"Soon I started having these sorts of...visions. Or dreams, you could say. Dreams of myself and of the boy I killed in 1918." Quil and Embry squirmed. "I was dreaming of the life I would have had if I turned Edward all those years ago. Like my perfectly detailed imagination was torturing me.

"But when I started following Edward, this Edward,—the baby—he became sort of an obsession. I needed to know why he was...reincarnated. So I followed him. And to a vampire, 17 years isn't long at all. Suddenly, I was in Forks. I took a job here to be near Edward and learn more about him. This is where it gets interesting."

Alice laughed shortly, as if it _hadn't _been interesting before. Bella smirked at her.

Carlisle smiled softly and continued. "I saw a girl that looked _exactly_ like the one I had dreamed about and...I had never met her before. That was Bella."

Jacob stiffened. She put a hand on his arm.

"I was...amazed, to sat the least. Suddenly, Edward wasn't the only anomaly, but Bella as well. And then I started seeing more from my dreams, all around Forks. I saw Emmett and Alice and Jasper." With a soft smile he added, "I've dreamed of all of you. But in totally different situations."

"Why the hell are you telling us all of this?" Quil snapped, getting impatient.

Carlisle merely smiled. "Because I have a theory." He explained the theoretical physics and Edward and Bella chimed in to make it easier for everyone to understand.

Jacob looked at them, almost accusingly. "How long have you guys known about this?"

"Only a couple of weeks. Since Edward's accident," Bella assured.

Edward took a deep breath. "That was when things got complicated."

Bella picked it up. "You see...when I hit my head, I had some dreams, too--"

Alice leaned up. "What'd you dream about?"

Bella looked at her sharply. She hadn't thought about exposing them ever and suddenly she was uncomfortable. "I...I dreamed about a scar on my hand that glittered in the sun...like a vampire's skin. And I dreamed about...a big dog—like the size of a horse—" Sam stiffened in the corner, scar drawing tight over his face.

Bella continued, "...I dreamed about Jacob." She looked at him. "But you looked a lot different...taller and stronger with really short hair." He made a face. Jacob _loved_ his hair. "And I dreamed about a vampire..."

Carlisle interjected. "But most importantly, Bella dreamed about a van accident—exactly like the one that occurred a few weeks ago except instead of being shoved out of the way, the vampire protected her."

"Was it you?" Embry asked him quietly. Carlisle shook his head.

"It was Edward." A small silence passed. "In this other...dimension, Edward is a vampire because, remember, it's what life would have been like if I had the strength to turn him long ago."

"How are _dreams_ evidence of another _dimension_?" Quil asked harshly.

Jasper was thoughtful when he spoke. "Because everything matches up—all the faces suddenly here in one place. It's more than a mere coincidence."

Carlisle beamed at him as he nodded assuringly. "And realize that that van accident actually happened, the very same that Bella dreamed about. Except, this time, Edward wasn't a vampire and his human form is fragile."

"But he only hurt his leg a little," Alice protested.

Carlisle laughed a little bit but Bella answered, "Actually, he crushed his pelvis and broke his leg."

Edward added in, "Apparently, the other dimension and this are...colliding with strange after effects. Because I'm a vampire in the other dimension, the universe felt it made an error and tired to fix it. I healed in a day."

"_What_?" Quil and Embry spoke at the same time. Emmett had migrated closer to sit on the back of Edward, Bella and Jacob's sofa.

Carlisle got up quickly and went to the lone cabinet in the room. When he opened it, it was full of files but one thin one sat on top. He pulled it out. Inside were Edward's xrays. He held them up to the light. "These are Edward's actual xrays. This one from right after his accident. This one from after his surgery and this one from a few hours later. Look at the fractures."

Alice's voice was full of wonder. "They're disappearing!" She looked at Edward. "I _knew_ you were on your feet to fast!"

Edward nodded. "We went on the camping trip partly to see if you guys knew anything of the other dimension. To see if you were dreaming too."

Bella looked up at Emmett. "Emmett is."

He looked at her quickly. "What?"

Edward answered, "The dreams of the blonde woman. They aren't just dreams...Bella saw her too."

Emmett's eyes were wide as he stared unseeingly at Edward. Carlisle smiled at him softly. "Her name is Rosalie, Emmett."

Studying Carlisle's perfect pale face, Emmett stared wondrously.

"Why am I here, Carlisle?" Sam asked suddenly. Most of the room had forgotten he was there.

"In time, Sam. You all need to understand this first. You know how much trouble I could get in for all of this. I wouldn't do it without reason." As unhappy as Sam looked, he seemed to understand.

Bella looked at Jasper suddenly. "It was you!" Everyone went quiet around her. She looked at Carlisle then at Edward, then back again. "I dreamed of Emmett and that blonde woman...but there was a blonde vampire there too. It was Jasper!"

Carlisle smiled as if he were smiling at a child. "Good."

Jasper smirked a bit. "I'm a vampire."

"Actually...most of this room is a vampire in the alternate dimension." Carlisle looked around, nodding. Even Bella hadn't realized that.

"Am I a vampire?" Embry asked.

The idea was almost humorous to Carlisle but he understood why Embry had asked. "No. Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Edward are vampires." He motioned to Embry, Quil and Jacob and said, "You three are something else entirely..."

"You will not expose me, leech," Sam warned. Carlisle looked apologetic.

"This is something bigger than us or our secrets, Sam. Jacob got sick tonight, _mimicking_ your symptoms. How long until they all start changing without a vampire threat? You of all people know what happens when your kind goes unchecked. Who's to say we'll be able to control it if it happens..."

Sam thought about that. He still didn't look happy, but he didn't say anymore. His eyes had darkened. Carlisle continued. "All of these things, the dreams, the van accident, Bella and Edward's situation, and now Jacob—"

Jacob sat up. "Bella and Edward's _situation_? What the hell are you talking about, Doc?"

The couple stiffened in their seats, not looking at each other. Carlisle looked at them out of the corner of his eye and knew he made mistake. Before he could answer, Bella decided to.

"In the alternate universe, Edward and I are together." She took a deep breath. "It's sort of been... screwing with our current lives. When the dimensions make contact sometimes I'll feel like myself when others I'll feel like some...bizarro version of myself. Actually, I'm sure you've all felt it. Have you ever looked at someone or gone someplace recently and just feel...strange? Like you should know this stranger like a brother or know something monumental that should have happened in this place?"

The room was quiet as everyone thought about that. Jasper met her eyes in understanding and it willed her to go on. She suddenly felt calmed by his cool blue eyes. "Sometimes, with Edward, I feel like I'm just getting to know him, because I _am_, but other times...I feel completely in love. And...Friday afternoon, we—"

Edward's voice was soft when he spoke to her. It was intimate. "Bella, you don't have to—"

Bella was determined. If she was making Carlisle explain, everyone else deserved the same from her. And this was an important example. "Friday afternoon, Edward and I had sex."

Mouths dropped and Jacob lunged. He was sprawled across Bella with his hands at Edward's throat. Edward's glasses knocked near off his face.

"_What did you do?_" He demanded fiercely and suddenly, he reeked to Edward's nose. Carlisle intervened immediately. He forced the two apart and lifted Jacob off of Bella. It was a display of strength that he hadn't been able to show in a long time. The room was silent.

"Jacob, clam down. This is serious. We can't act like a bunch of children. It took Bella a lot to tell everyone that. Respect her decision."

Jacob looked down at Bella who watched him with terrified brown eyes. He frowned and struggled in Carlisle's hand.

"Put me down. I'm cool." He still looked furious and his fists shook.

"I knew something happened," Quil muttered and Jacob growled at him.

"Look, Jacob, it only proves a point. You _know_ me, Jake." She took his shaking fists and the longer he looked her in the eye, the softer his face got. Angrily, he pulled his hands away but looked resigned to her answer. "C'mon," she pleaded and his face completely relaxed.

"It's gross," he muttered weakly. Bella snorted like his sister.

"Okay, four year old. This isn't really about...what happened. I just needed to say it because... maybe it would make you realize how serious this is. Edward and I did something we would have never done in any other situation...and I can't stand this sci-fi shit fucking with my life.

"We're all here to figure out a way to fix it."

Carlisle smiled fondly at Bella because he was proud of her and Alice looked at her with a respect she usually didn't pay to other girls. Embry was satisfied and Quil was a little more convinced because they knew Bella nearly as well as Jacob.

"Alright," was Emmett's answer. Both Edward and Bella turned to him and grinned.

"What am I?" Embry pressed back to the other subject. Carlisle pulled the other chair closer to the circle and sat like he hadn't taken a seat all day but it was his mind that needed a seat, not his body.

"Sam?"

Out of the slowly widening shadows of the corner, Sam stepped out, arms crossed. He wasn't happy but he never was. "I don't know about this, bloodsucker."

"If these dimensions get to close, Alice or Jasper or Edward may suddenly thirst for blood. It's a possibility because _everything_'s on the table right now. We have no clue what's coming next and that poses a threat to your tribe, Sam. Telling them gives you another line of defense. It gives you...comrades."

For a long moment, Sam was quiet before he spoke very slowly. " I am in more pain than any of you can imagine and every day it gets worse." The scar on his face nearly twitched as his jaw tightened. He took a deep breath. "You boys have heard the stories of our tribe. I'm sure Bella has heard them too. It is said that our ancestors descended from wolves. And to protect the tribe...to combat our greatest foe—"

"What was it?" Alice asked eagerly. Sam shot her sharp eyes but she wasn't intimidated.

"Vampires."

"The tribe _knows_ about vampires?" Jacob shifted around to look at Sam better.

"Not everyone, or soon the cities would know..."

"Why not tell the world?" Quil asked roughly. Carlisle smirked.

"Vampires are the oldest sort of predator, Quil. We have a sort of...government that can take care of any threat against our secret. Me telling you about us has broken the greatest rule of our kind...My punishment will be death."

Jasper's voice was quiet. "How do you kill a vampire...?"

Carlisle looked at the ground. "It would not be proper to say..."

Sam took a deep breath. "The tribe would not involve itself in the palefaced world. We only wanted to care for ourselves and...we had protection against nomadic vampires that would hunt on our lands."

"Will you show them, Sam?" Carlisle asked softly but when Sam tensed, he backtracked. "Or not...I just think it would be effective. I shouldn't have asked."

"I will."

The tense curiosity filled the room. The desire to know what Sam and Carlisle talked about so vaguely was visible in every young face. Sam removed the very thin jacket over his bare chest and dropped it to the ground unceremoniously. Bella nearly sucked in a surprised breath. She would have never imagined Sam to be so muscular and it rung true in her mind with the Jacob of her dreams. But beyond all the muscles and etched into his dark skin were dozens of paled scars, jagged and crisscrossed all over his torso.

Sam's dark hands dropped to the button of his shorts and it was all very suspenseful until Sam hesitated, then looked at Carlisle. Jacob thought he looked rather shy but he didn't think anyone else noticed.

"Do you have...a towel or something...?" Sam asked awkwardly. Carlisle nearly jumped.

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry." He rushed out and back in nearly a second. The show of speed surprised everyone who hadn't seen it before. Carlisle handed the towel to Sam and behind it, Sam dropped his shorts.

He held the towel very loosely over his hips, leaving lots of extra to drape over him. Bella nearly blushed and she averted her eyes awkwardly. No one dared to question what looked so absurd, mostly because it was Sam and they were a bit afraid he would hurt them.

Bella looked back to watch his eyes fall shut and the next moment, Sam was gone. The movement was as fluid as water rushing to the ground but what has actually happening was hard for anyone to comprehend. The towel fell to the floor as mouths dropped. Where Sam had stood was a wolf the size of a horse.

Sam slowly sat but his size didn't diminish in the action. His head was held regally and a scar left a pink and gruesome line across his muzzle.

Alice sucked in a breath."Was Bella dreaming about you?"

Bella thought of the wolf she rode in her dreams and in the morning sun streaming through Carlisle's large windows she could examine the creature in front of her. He was amazing, Sam was, but not the wolf from her dream.

Sam answered for her with a very human shake of the head. Carlisle stepped in, going around to stand beside Sam like a professor to his presentation.

"You see, the Quileutes have a very intimate connection with wolves. When there is a prominent vampire threat, Quileutes with the wolves in their blood undergo a transformation. Your fever last night, Jacob, is the precursor to the first change. In the other dimension, our...coven lived in Forks more than once. Because, like I am now, we're vegetarians, we made a treaty with the Quileutes to never go on their land..."

Emmett looked up. "Edward and I felt...wrong when Bella was taking us onto the reservation to look for Jacob..."

Carlisle frowned. "This other dimension is a lot closer than I had anticipated..."

Quil had relaxed a bit. "So...Jake and Em and I are...what Sam is?" Very slowly, the wolf nodded.

"But because there is only one vampire in the area, you all have yet to change." The almost disappointed Quil. Carlisle continued, "Sam is the only one."

Sam looked to the ground. Bella got up very slowly and approached Sam. Edward instinctively grabbed her arm and Jacob nearly growled at him. She shook it off without a thought while taking another step. He bowed his head and let her put a hand between his ears.

The room was silent as she pet him slowly, letting her hand fall down the front of his face with her fingers lightly drawing over his scar. He winced away from her.

Without thinking, she asked, "What happened? If Carlisle is your biggest enemy, then who could have done this to you?"

Sam dropped his muzzle from under her hand, not looking at her as he bit gingerly at the towel and dragged it over his hind legs. Again, like a rushing waterfall, Sam was sitting on the floor. He didn't look up at anyone as he clutched the towel tighter around him.

"A werewolf can only scar himself."

Carlisle knelt down. "I...I've dreamed about you two, Sam. In this other dimension...she's going to have your child."

Sam looked up sharply like he'd been electrocuted. "Don't talk about her like that, leech." He was suddenly furious. "You think you make it feel any better by lying to me?"

"I'm not lying, Sam."

Sam tore away and stood, barely holding onto the towel around his hips. "There isn't anyway she would want me after what I did. No matter what you say, not matter the _dimension._"

Bella hated watching the pain on Sam's face. The scars riddling his chest suddenly meant so much more because, somehow, Sam had done that to himself. "What happened, Sam?"

Sam wasn't facing them anymore and his shoulders heaved in painful pants.

"I knew it wasn't a bear attack..." Bella whipped around to see Quil with a small self satisfied smirk on his face. "You did it, didn't you? And then like a poor little baby, you hurt yourself. Melodramatic, much?"

"Quil," Jacob warned lowly. Bella didn't know what he was talking about, all she knew was that Sam made a pained noise like a kicked dog.

"No, Jacob. I'm glad I'm not him. I'm glad I'm not what he _is._ A monster."

Embry pulled on Quil's shoulder. "Drop it, Ateara." Sam's fist tightened on the towel.

"Even if this is all a load of bull at least we all know what actually happened to Emily Young. I'm sure the elders would love to hear it. And I'd really like to be the one to tell _Leah_ exactly where you were that weekend—"

It all happened so fast. Before Bella could even note the shaking of Sam's tight fists, there was a wolf lunging at Quil. Carlisle had anticipated the move, hearing Sam's heart rate, and was on Sam's back in a second. The force of Carlisle's jump threw Sam to the floor with Carlisle hitting the ground first. Sam kicked his hind legs furiously while Quil stood, terrified, mere feet away.

With Carlisle under the weight of the tremendous wolf, Quil would be left open the second Sam got to his feet. But Sam never got to his feet. The scuffle lasted a full four seconds when everyone felt they should intervene but was too terrified to take the risk. Before Sam could get four paws on the ground, he was pinned, across the room, by Jacob.

The second after it happened, Jacob was off Sam, looking at his hands with wide eyes. Carlisle was up in a second and Sam had changed back to his human form with no thought to his nudity. He was furious. Carlisle touched Jacob cautiously.

"How did you do that?" Carlisle asked in a hushed voice. Jacob shook his head. "No, Jacob, you don't understand. There is no way you would have the strength on your own."

When they looked down, Sam was gone and the back door was open. Everyone in the room was completely aware of the shift that had just occurred, whether it was in time or space or in mood and emotion. Nothing would ever be the same.


	13. Chapter 13

Tension that is tight enough is difficult to ease without something snapping. Carlisle let Sam disappear into the morning gray and let everyone else think about everything they had taken in. Edward and Bella didn't learn much more about DX but the fact that Edward wasn't the only mythical creature made him feel a little more comfortable. A part of Bella was disappointed that everyone got to be such cool things while she remained the breakable damsel. Then the rest of her remembered just how screwed up she was as a human and she didn't need any other huge revelations to cloud her mind even further.

Embry, Quil, and Jacob huddled in a fierce conversation. Quil looked furious but he was also a bit paler in his pure fear of what he just experienced. Sam was gone but Jacob was there with his inexplicable strength. Quil watched him as if Jacob would turn into a wolf at any given moment.

In the aftermath, Carlisle went into a flurry of extremely quick fretting. If Jacob was experiencing DX on a physical level, more then an emotion or a feeling, then they had to work fast. He threw open the cabinet he had taken Edward's xrays from and started sorting through the files there at a dizzying speed. Alice watched in a fascination. In turn, Jasper watched Alice. Carlisle began laying files out on the floor. His nimble fingers expertly opened them and fanned out their contents for easy searching. He was looking for something.

When Edward suddenly got up and left the room, Bella waited a moment before moving to follow him. She found him in a large garage that only held one Mercedes. Edward was leaning against a workbench with his arms crossed and looking at the ground.

"If I was outta line telling everyone, I--" Bella started to apologize.

Edward smiled to assure her. "No, it was fine. I just didn't want you to feel like you _had_ to tell anyone."

Letting out a big breath, Bella went over and hoisted herself up to sit on the workbench next to Edward. They stared at the nearly empty garage together in silence.

"This is all so crazy," she muttered. Edward was nodding along before she had finished.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

She didn't answer right away and he really hadn't expected her to. "We fix it."

He looked at her for the first time since she joined him. "Do you want to fix us?"

The question took her by surprise. "What do you mean _us_?" she blurted. The blatant deflection made the back of Edward's throat ache.

"Alright." Edward turned away again and his arms tightened across his chest. She suddenly realized what she had done.

"I didn't mean it like that, Edward," she started but he didn't move. Bella slid of the bench and stepped in front of him. "I just... I don't even know what to call...this. You want to know why this is so hard for me?"

He looked up at her, almost shyly. She continued, "I don't know if I like you just because the other me loves you."

Edward thought about that. "Do you regret it?"

Bella thought about that. "Yes... and no." Her voice dropped slightly. "It was definitely enjoyable... but most of that emotion just...wasn't _us_. There's no way that something so...passionate could have ever happened between us without help from our _other_ side."

He frowned a bit. "I guess."

She looked at him shyly. "I hate not knowing if we only like each other because of our other selves." Her eyes darted away from his as she rubbed her arm nervously.

Without thinking Edward went forward, his hands gripping at the base of her neck, and kissed her. She responded almost instantly. It had only been a day since they'd touched last and since the awkward silences prevailed, but to Bella it felt a huge relief lifted from her shoulders.

She pressed her self against him and he made a noise as he hit the workbench. Her arms wound around his neck and shoulders as they kissed fervently. His hand moved to the small of her back, holding her close. This was real, wasn't it? It felt real. His lips were under hers and his fingers in her hair. This was right. But a feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She pushed him to an arms length.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I don't think I can do this." She left him in the garage. In her attempt to get away as soon as possible, she merely watched her feet to make sure they were moving. She saw Jacob's feet before running into his chest.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Oh, Jacob. Sorry." He shrugged.

"Can we talk?"

Bella nodded slowly before letting him take her arm and lead her into the kitchen. He watched her closely and she had trouble looking at him with tousled hair and swollen lips.

"I think you have some explaining to do."

Bella winced. "I know, Jacob. It was stupid. But it's not like we could really help it."

He frowned at her. "Were you two safe?"

She wanted to scoff a bit. He was trying so hard to be the good brother. "Not really...but I went to Carlisle right after. I got the morning after pill."

Jacob relaxed only slightly. "Are you okay?"

She smiled very softly. "Yeah."

"I would have gone with you, Bells. If this was so hard for you...I wish you could have come to me..."

She crumbled under his stare. "I know, Jacob. I...I was afriad." An uncomfortable feeling, different from the one she felt when kissing Edward, clutched her sides. "I feel like I need to apologize..."

A cocky side of Jacob returned. "Maybe you should," he scoffed with a bit of a smile. It only made her more uncomfortable.

"No...I mean...it's like I cheated." Jacob was silent to her words.

His voice was as soft as hers. "Bella...what are you talking about?"

Bella lifted herself up to sit on the kitchen island. He stood across from her and they very slightly leaned toward one another in an intimate moment. "I...I think something happened between us in the other dimension..."

His eyes widened minutely. "You mean like we..."

Bella shut her eyes hard and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. In my first dream...I watched us kiss."

He was quiet. "Was...that all?"

She snorted. "Then I punched you and I broke my hand. It must have been after you first transformed...like Sam. You were a lot taller and stronger."

"I bet I'm hot."

Bella laughed, so thankful that he knew just how to make her comfortable. "Yeah, that's why I punched you."

Their laughter died out slowly. "See... it's totally one sided. I had to use all my big muscles just to kiss you. Completely unrequited."

He was trying to make her feel better. Edward didn't know how to do that. That's why she couldn't do it. She didn't need to know where she stood with Jacob.

"Is...is that what it's like here, too?"

Jacob's easy smile stayed just where it was. Edward's would have faltered. "Maybe."

"Oh, Jacob." Bella reached for him.

He held his hands up. "No, Bella. Don't do that. This isn't about you and me. You know...that this will always be just about you." She wanted to interrupt but he took her reaching hands by the wrists to make her listen. "All. For. You. If you don't want me, I'll wait. I care about you too much to do anything else."

She went limp, the top of her head falling against his chest. "You're way to good for me."

He held her up dutifully. "That's what I'm here for, sis." With a little laugh he then asked, "You two were totally making out just then, weren't you."

Bella tried to hold it in but in then end her snorting laughter got out and she heard the rumble of his own in his chest.

Jacob tensed and Bella looked up to see Carlisle in the kitchen doorway. His eyes were watching intently.

"Yeah?" Bella asked softly, completely relaxed in Jacob's company.

"I was...wondering if you wanted to help me do some research, Bella." He was obviously eager to keep working.

She smiled at him. "Of course." Bella looked back at Jacob, still holding her wrists. He nodded to her and the both started to leave.

He stopped just outside the kitchen. "I think I'm going to find Sam."

Jacob stopped just outside the back door and watched the forest move slowly in the low wind. Which way had he gone? Without thinking, he just kept walking, pushing into the underbrush. He figured Sam couldn't have gone far.

Then Jacob thought about the wolf that took up the living room and rethought that. But he didn't stop moving. He walked, nearly thoughtlessly, with no clue what to expect from Sam when he found him. Would he be angry? Even with whatever sort of strength he had at Carlisle's, Jacob knew if it were to come down to a fight, he'd lose.

Experimentally, he stopped and picked up a rock, hefting it in his hand and testing his grip on it. With all his strength, Jacob threw the rock at a tree. The rock shot through the trunk and the three snapped. He watched with wide eyes as the tree fell.

"Timber..." he muttered under his breath. The tree took down other brush, clearing a path. Jumping onto the trunk, Jacob walked down it's length, eyes still looking for any sign of Sam.

When Jacob spotted him, he instinctively stopped. Sam had redressed and settled on a rock. His large and wide shoulders where hunched as he leaned on his elbows resting in his knees. His face was blank of any emotion.

Jacob thought about calling for him but then thought that Sam already knew he was there. If the falling tree wasn't a tip off, Jacob assumed there were heightened senses that came along with whatever he was.

"It's okay, Jacob." Sam didn't look up.

Jacob slowly took his side, leaping nimbly off the tree trunk. He never took his eyes off of Sam.

"Look, I'm sorry about back there..."

Sam scoffed. "I'm supposed to be stronger than this."

"You are strong. Whatever happened with us was some universal fluke," Jacob assured.

Sam looked over at him from behind his hair. "Just like that three hundred year old tree just deciding to drop, right?"

Jacob looked sheepish. "I...was just checking."

"It doesn't work like that, Jacob. If you...if you were what I am...you'd know." Sam's dark eyes dropped to the forest floor. Jacob sighed and sat, cross legged in the mushy ground beneath him.

"Tell me."

With a deep breath, Sam ran his hands through his hair out of exasperation before speaking. "Because I was closest to maturity... I changed when Carlisle came."

"That was years ago..."

Sam sighed. "I know. Old Quil...he was the only surviving elder who knew what I was going through. He became a rock in my life. And...after what happened with..." His face cringed.

"Emily..."

He dropped his head into his hands and let out a wracked dry sob. "I...couldn't help it. She was too close. I was trying to protect her."

Quietly, Jacob leaned in and asked, "What happened?"

"A...bear really did get into our camp. She was so scared and...she hid behind me. I was so new to my form. I didn't think. I wanted to keep her safe so bad. And I changed. She was too close and...I got her. I scared the bear away but all I could do was get her to a hospital."

Jacob knew he shouldn't ask but he couldn't help himself. "Why...why were you with her to begin with? Weren't you with Leah?"

Sam cringed even further, clutching his head tightly in his lap and even rocking slightly. "I...it's complicated."

"I think I have a right to know."

With a deep breath, Sam explained. "Shapeshifters have a unique way of finding a mate..."

"Shapeshifters?"

Sam nodded. "That's what we are. Wolves go so far back in our ancestry that we shift into them and nothing else. And, no one knows why, but, we all have one single mate out there for us. When we lay eyes on that one person, after our first transformation, everything on earth means a little less because your sole purpose in life is to be with that person. Quil called it imprinting."

"And Emily was your imprint."

Sam nodded again. "It's the most amazing experience. But it got so complicated. I _wanted_ my imprint to be Leah because it would have made things so much easier. And once I looked at Emily, it was all over. I lives for Emily and it hurts to be away from her. Now because of me, it hurts to see her face."

"What does she think of all of this?"

"I refuse to see her. I refuse to hurt her again."

Jacob looked at Sam with disbelieving eyes. "But it _hurts _be away from her..."

Sharply, Sam looked back. "It's worth never hurting her again."

A long silence passed. "That's why Quil hates you, you know. You took his grandpa away. But I guess it makes sense...Old Quil was all you had. It must be so hard." Sam didn't respond and didn't look up. Jacob continued, "He'll come around. You're not alone anymore, Sam. Even if we're not wolves yet, we're a...pack now."

The word came out of his mouth before he thought about it. Realizing that, Jacob also noticed that it fit so well. They were a pack.

Alice found Edward still sitting in the garage in silence. "It's weird, isn't it?"

He looked up sharply, snapping out of his thoughts. "What is?"

She motioned around vaguely. "All of this. You feel it too, right?"

He nodded in acknowledgeable. "The house..." Alice nodded back.

She took the spot that Bella had left open when she ran out before. "It's like I know exactly where everything should be. And with all of us here...I've never felt more at home."

"Same here."

She laughed easily and it sounded a bit like a chime in the wind. "We are a strange group. You and Emmett—foster kids. Me...well, a bit of a runaway. We all sorta needed a home and here we are, finding out that in some strange way, we're all a family." Intimately, she thought how it was the warmest she'd ever felt.

Edward answered distractedly, still focused on Bella. "Me too."

She turned and blinked at him. "Did I say that out loud?"

It was his turn to look surprised. He thought for a second before smiling sheepishly. "I guess not. I...just—"

"You do that a lot, don't you?" She smirked at him. "You sorta pick up on things that no one else does."

Edward shrugged. "I guess I can just...read people. Always have."

"I...kinda do that same thing." Her tone made him curious and she continued. "I...I've never told anyone but Jasper but...well, you remember my less than graceful arrival to Forks?"

Edward laughed a bit to himself. She was nonstop talk of the town for around a month. "It was sorta graceful."

She smiled at him. "I came here from Mississpi."

"_Really_?" Edward turned toward her in anticipation for more. "Why so far?"

A placid smile set into her face as she watched the ground. "I...just needed to be here. Maybe this whole dimension thing explains it but...I would see things. And then they would happen."

"Like...you saw the future?"

She nodded at nothing in particular. "It really freaked my parents out." With that placid smile she continued into a very different story. "I told them that my little sister was going to be hit by a bus. That I dreamed about it. They told me to stop telling vicious fibs. Two days later my mother walked my sister and I to our school bus stop but we were late...the bus was just leaving. It was Show-and-Tell day for Cynthia and she wanted so bad to show everyone the patchwork she sewed all by herself. She tired to stop the bus...ran out in front of it..."

A silence stretched between them. "I'm so sorry."

"No...I am." She smiled at him again but it was a sad smile. She still blamed herself, Edward knew. "My mother...was lost in her grief. No one could console her. She said it was all my fault. She claimed the Devil made me do it, that I was evil. They had me committed."

"Jeez...that's a little old fashioned."

Alice scoffed. "Biloxi isn't exactly up with the times. I... didn't take it very well. I started believing them...that I was crazy or evil. I kept having visions. I did everything to make them go away. I tore my hair out and an orderly found me trying to scratch my eyes out."

Edward sucked in a sharp breath. "Alice..."

She smiled at him. "Then I had a vision of Jasper. It made me feel so good...just seeing his face. I felt the calmest I'd ever been since Cynthia died. I needed to find him. I needed to feel like that again. That's when I embraced my visions because it was like each one made me closer to Jasper, closer to seeing him again."

"You came all the way here for Jasper..."

Her smile grew to an uncontrolled one and in a passing thought, he wished that Bella would smile like that to him.

"I had that vision for the first time seven years ago. Ever since I had the exact vision every night. It let me sleep, actually sleep, since the accident. Then one night...I couldn't take it anymore. I broke out and just started running. A few months later...I found myself in Forks."

"That's such an amazing story, Alice."

"It's nothing like what's happening now. This is incredible. I feel like we've known each other our entire lives, Carlisle too."

"Maybe it's all the same story. Maybe...you and Jasper are together in the other dimension too. Like you were drawn to him because of it. Sort of like Bella and me. Maybe this has been going on for longer than any of us thought."

"Let's go see Carlisle."

Before the words were out of her mouth, Carlisle appeared in the center of the garage, face eager. Without a word, Edward and Alice followed him into the living room. Jacob jumped when Carlisle flashed before him and Sam but they followed just as fast as the others had.

They regathered in the living room around the spread files that Bella sat among. She looked just as eager as Carlisle as she pushed through the different papers. Quil stiffened when Sam came into the room.

"Now... Edward is a confirmed reincarnation. I was interested to see if he was special or if you all were reincarnations of your Dimension X selves."

Embry leaned in. "What difference would it make?"

"It would mean that Dimension X has more hold here than we once thought. Think of it as... making a child—"

"Guess Masen's got that under control..." Quil muttered. Embry automatically elbowed him in the stomach. Jacob clenched his fists and shot Quil a furious look. Quil rolled his eyes. To him, walking in with Sam meant that Jacob had turned his back on Quil. Embry, in turn, rolled his eyes at Quil.

Edward noticed that Bella pretended not to hear as she blushed into her paperwork. Carlisle let out a bit of an exasperated breath before continuing.

"Right. Making a child. All of you have taken Health, yes? Well, previously, we all assumed this universe was an only child. A fertilized single egg within the uterus. Please, bear with me—I know it's a bit far fetched. We assumed this universe was the only one of it's kind. Then, if we accept string theory, then we realize that not only are we _not _alone in this...family...but that we have an infinite number of siblings. But we are different as every child is different from his siblings. Yes, there are similarities—same hair color or nose size—but no more.

"Now...until this point, we thought that this dimension and Dimension X were merely siblings. But, with what we've experienced and uncovered, we're more like_ twins_. With me still? Now, we could be either monozygotic or dizygotic—"

"Woah, Carlisle..." Alice held her hands up to stop him. "English, please."

Carlisle smiled. "Either _identical_ or _fraternal_ twins, Alice. As fraternal twins, it's two eggs that happened to conceive at the same time. In that case, there is more similarity between the two siblings, but not much more than any other regularly conceived children. But there is still a connection deeper than that of regular siblings. In the case of intentical twins...then—"

Bella sat up. "Then we're from the same egg with nearly identical DNA." Her eyes were alight with understanding.

"Alright, I'm sick of this metaphor. What the hell are you talking about, Doc?" Jacob looked exasperated and Carlisle sighed.

"Right now, I believe that unlike every other dimension, we share a deeper bond with Dimension X, like in twins. But the more we discover... the more leads me to believe that these dimensions have nearly _exactly_ the same make up, except nurtured differently."

"Like twins separated at birth?" Jasper asked and Carlisle nodded eagerly.

"When I didn't turn Edward... a lot of things happened."

"Like what, Carlisle?" Edward leaned forward with his fingers laced together. "You know so much more about Dimension X than we do. What's different?"

"Please, all of you, don't take what I say personally. They are merely observations. This Bella is... like any other teenage girl." He looked at her. "You're a bit jaded from watching your parents and a little foolish. Other Bella is much more mature because... your parents divorced when you were a baby and you spent a lot of your time looking after your mother. Here, she became hardworking to keep your family afloat. There, she's carefree and a little silly and to keep her head on straight, you had to grow up much faster. Plus, you don't have a sibling."

Jacob sat up. "We don't live together?"

Carlisle shook his head. "Your father is alive over there, though his legs are useless due to diabetes. You and Bella barely knew each other until just after my dreams started. A bit less than a year from now. You remain maybe the most constant between the dimensions other than that, Jacob.

"Alice...you trust yourself less here because in the other dimension you've had years with the mind of a vampire to gain a new perspective on the world. Jasper...you came from a much more tumultuous past over there, while here, you are much more relaxed. Edward...you are very similar, in some respects. You don't really remember your parents much both here and there. There, human memories fade after becoming a vampire, but you remember the person they raised you to be. You keep a lot of your early 20th century morals and while courting the other Bella, you must remain in total control of yourself because...one slip and her life is lost.

"Here, you can afford to be reckless because you aren't instinctively built to kill Bella. Over there..." He laughed a bit. "You refuse to have sex with Bella until after you're married."

Jacob snorted with laughter. "Messed that one up." Bella blushed furiously again.

"Carlisle," Edward warned and the vampire laughed out loud himself.

"We get married?" Bella asked quietly. Then she thought about the slip Carlisle had made before. They have a child

"What have you found, Carlisle?" Sam asked solemnly. Carlisle nodded to him moving to sit on the floor next to Bella.

"Now... I have experienced Edward's reincarnation. That points to the twin theory. But are you others reincarnations? Look at what we have."

Bella held up a newspaper clipping. "There is another Mary Alice Brandon."

Alice stiffened. "What?"

Carlisle took the clipping. "I kept this very early in me research, just in case. Now I understand it. This isn't your incarnation, Alice. This is your niece."

She made a choking noise and Jasper took her hand. "No...no that can't be."

Jaspers eyes were fierce. "Her only sibling is dead, Carlisle. Surely you know that."

"I do, Jasper. This is Mary Alice Brandon-Shepard. The daughter of Cynthia Shepard who was born Cynthia Brandon in 1906. This is the niece of your incarnation." Alice remained stiff. "In either dimension, I had nothing to do with your turning. For all we know, there is an vampire Alice roaming the earth, never taking the same path as either Alice in either dimension. There are plenty of complications here, all capable of tearing time and space itself."

"Now what?" Embry wanted to find a chase and cut to it fast.

"I'm not sure. There are plenty of missing pieces but... I think we can figure this all out. There is something... a temporal catalyst...that if contacted...I believe that it with either tear these dimensions apart o bring them together."

"What happens if they come together?" Edward's question was low.

"Well...one dimension will supersede the other."

Embry understood. "So...it's either this dimension or that?"

Emmett spoke for the first time and Quil jumped, forgetting he was there. "Then we reach that dimension."

Bella stood up from her paperwork. "You mean...you want that dimension over this one?"

Emmett looked at her like it was an obvious question. "Isn't that what we're here to do?"

"No! We have no idea, not matter what Carlisle knows, what that dimension will bring!" Bella threw her arms out. The room was silent.

"Wait..." Jacob stood as well. "Are we here to bring ourselves to that dimension...or set things back to normal?"

Just as Bella said "normal," Emmett shouted, "other dimension."

Carlisle cringed. "We have to talk about this." He looked around. "Who has an opinion?"

Jacob looked almost apologetic. "As great as it would be to know my dad... I...we just don't _know_ what going to that dimension would mean."

Sam frowned. "But don't you remember anything Carlisle has told us of the other dimension? We're a pack there, Jacob. Emily and I...we—"

Quil scoffed. "So this is all about you and your selfishness, huh? I say, back to sane. Enough of this crazy shit."

Jasper looked sharply at Carlisle. "What about you?"

Carlisle looked around, reluctant to answer. "I...I want to be there."

The room was silent. His opinion had much more weight than the others.

"We _can't,_ Carlisle." Bella looked almost desperate. She didn't understand this other dimension and despised how it made her feel. It terrified Bella.

Emmett lashed out. "So none of us can be happy, while you get everything? I get to be here, alone. While you get Edward? While you get your perfect little family? Sam gets to suffer in complete isolation while you get your little James on the side?" He was furious.

Bella stiffened, her mouth dropping. Carlisle turned on her sharply. "James? James Witherdale? Tell you're not involved with him, Bella."

She didn't look at him. Instead, she watched the trees outside the window and watched an animal or something move behind them. "I..."

Emmett scowled, his voice bitter to Carlisle's ears. "Oh yeah? You didn't know? Looks like he likes a to sink his teeth into Swan between classes. Who knows how often?"

Jacob looked just as furious. "What the hell is he talking about, Bella?"

She looked completely ashamed. "I...it was nothing." Jacob moved towards her and she kept her eyes firmly out the window, watching that single shadow move behind the bushes.

Carlisle got to her first, his amber eyes wild. "You have to _promise_ me, Bella. You will never go near James Witherdale ever again. Stay away."

She looked at him like a scared little girl, confused by everything going on. "What, why? He's a jerk, but he's not dangerous."

"_Yes, he is._"

Edward stepped up and Bella felt surrouned. "I assumed you knew, Carlisle. Didn't you watch us at school?"

Carlisle looked at him like he was crazy, emotions a little high. "I followed you across the country, why would add stalking to the list?"

Edward was confused. "I thought... I thought it was you..."

So much was happening, even Carlisle was at the end of his rope. "_Who?_"

"That guy...there was someone watching me and Emmett from the forest at school. I just assumed that when you told us everything that it was you..."

"It wasn't! Now, Bella. Promise me you're stay away from James." Bella was covering her ears.

Alice was frowning. "I've never got a good feeling from that guy. Why would you ever go near him anyway?"

Bella was overwhelmed. Carlisle and Jacob and Edward and Alice and the little shadow moving behind the trees. She clutched her head between her palms. Her eyes hurt and a low hum surrounded her.

"What's going on?" she shrieked and the world fell around her, spinning as it went. Surprised and scared voices called her name but as they got louder, they fell on her deaf ears. She fell to the floor that wasn't there. There was a blinding light as she fell to solid ground and arms gripped her to a solid form.

Shaking her head, the room came into focus as her body sank into place. The sound of a tv filtered into her senses as she looked around blearily.

A soft laugh rumbled against her back. "Fall asleep again?"

Her words came out unintelligibly as she rubbed her eyes. Her fingers clutched at the ratty carpet she was sitting on. Her other hand clutched at soft denim and the laugh rumbled again. Hot breath rushed past her ear. "He's coming back in..."

Heavy thoughtless footfalls immediately followed the words along with the clisk of a can opening. Bella looked up and her first clear sight was Charlie rubbing his stomach with his eyes trained eagerly on the television screen.

"Dad?" she asked smally. He looked at her but didn't see her before he turned all his attention back to the screen.

"Yeah,babe?" he grunted distractedly. Bella didn't answer and he didn't notice. Slowly, she turned around.

Cold fingers slid over her hand and she jumped. Looking back quickly she locked eyes with inquisitive ones. They were amber and beautiful. She sucked in a sharp breath.

"Edward."


	14. Chapter 14

_Sorry this took so much longer than usual. Things just kept building up on me and even though it's spring break, I'm also working full time and the opening to the musical I'm in us coming up. It's kinda crazy. I've finally found time to work on this._

Edward gave her a curious smile. Cold lips pressed to the nape of her neck before that breath passed ear again. "What's up? Your heart is beating so hard."

Suddenly, she looked at her dad and back at Edward with his fingers lacing through hers. Bella jumped and pushed out of Edward's lap.

"Oh, god. Dad. I..."

Charlie looked at her then laughed. "Cat's already out of the bag, Bells. Just make sure he's out after dinner. Carlisle trusts me to get him home at a decent hour."

Bella looked between her father and Edward and then turned to look Edward in the face. Like a child discovering things for the first time, she touched it's hard, cold surface. He let her touch him, run her hands all over his face, but after a moment his eyes fell shut and he inhaled deeply.

When he spoke, his voice was low and strained. "What are you doing, Bella?"

Instinct shot through her and she took her hands away like she'd been burned. Slowly, Bella turned in his lap and stiffly settled in. Her mind was moving an mile a minute.

_Did I pass out?That's it. Carlisle took me home and Edward stayed. But...this isn't right, he's a vampire. _

"I think the lasagna's ready, Bells," Charlie grunted. Edward automatically started to get up and she was left on the floor, horribly confused. She took the hand Edward offered. She tired to mutter an excuse or an argument but Edward urged her out of the room.

In the kitchen, visibly starker than the last time she'd seen it. Her body moved on its own as she went to check on the lasagna. What the hell was going on?

When she turned around, Edward was staring at her intently with his brow furrowed. He looked unhappy in the strangest way. "I hate times like these."

"Times like what?" She found her voice, though small and dry.

He came forward and his cold hands fell on her waist. "Times when I'm dying to know what you're thinking." His smile was warm and made her stomach flip and heart pound. He looked so different without his glasses. Edward dropped a kiss to her forehead and when she stiffened beneath him, he pulled back with confused eyes.

"_What_ is going on with you tonight?"

Bella laughed awkwardly. "Nothing. It's nothing." _Dimension X. This is it. And Edward doesn't know a thing. I'm here all alone._

She turned around to to face the counter sharply, fiddling with the the hot pads beneath the hot lasagna pan. She needed to think and Edward's icy pretense behind her was not comforting. Her heart was beating hard. He wouldn't hurt her and it was insane to think that she would have to worry about that.

"You hungry?" She asked idly and then froze. Bella could practically feel him move away from behind her.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Why would you say something like that?"

Turning her head toward him but not actually seeing him, her mind raced. Then he stepped toward her again, a cold hand gripping her shoulder suddenly and tightly. He turned her, forced her, to look at him. "Are you _afraid_ of me?"

Taking a deep breath, Bella calmed herself. She _knew_ this wasn't a dream; the chill running through her arm where he touched her was too real. "I'm sorry. I...I'm not feeing like myself right now."

Then she kissed him, shortly and softly, much more like the way she'd kissed her Edward for the first time. Edward stared at her with those beautiful eyes for a long, silent moment before smiling. It was different than the way her Edward smiled—this one had perfectly deadly teeth and his lips stretched crookedly around them.

"For a second, I thought you were thinking reasonably for once."

Bella thought about that as she quietly started slicing the lasagna. He didn't believe her, she knew, but he trusted her just enough to let her play things out. He was confident and it came with nearly one hundred years of life experience.

There wasn't a nervous fidget about Edward. When Bella took a deep breath, so did he. He was calm and calculating she could almost feel everything he was doing. Every time the evening breeze caught through the cracked window and brushed past her face, she would shiver slightly, but Edward would inhale. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the minute grip of his pale fingers on the edge of the kitchen table.

They were things she wouldn't have ever noticed, but in her own intensity—the unnerve of the situation and the heightened senses her heart rate was giving her—she noticed every little thing about this Edward. He was physically perfect and unquestionably composed.

Slowly she turned around and met his gaze for the first time that night. Bella didn't want to be on eggshells all night.

"I'm sorry I'm so off tonight," she muttered softly. He smiled and her heart pounded.

"I'll figure it out somehow, Bella." He knew there was something big amiss but somehow, it wasn't enough to press her for information. "I don't have to be able to read your mind to understand how you work."

She sat silent at that. He spoke a lot about knowing what she's thinking or reading her mind. She would pay attention more and see what it meant.

"I...what's wrong isn't that big of a deal. I can't talk about it, just—"

Suddenly Edward stepped forward and laced his fingers seamlessly into hers like he'd done it thousands of times before. Maybe he had. "I trust you, Bella."

There was a moment were they stayed like that and Bella almost found comfort in the near numbing sensation his skin gave her. He stared at her with those golden eyes and she actually couldn't look away from them.

Quietly he asked, "Is it your nightmares?" The question took her a bit by surprise. Before she could answer, he asked again, "Was it James again?"

Her mouth dropped open slightly. Was he talking about her dreams or reality? James was here too? Then she remembered right before she fell into Dimension X. Carlisle was urging her to stay away from James Witherdale. The thought struck her intensely and she sucked in a sharp breath. Edward clutched at her, thinking she was answering his questions.

A cold finger lifted her chin to look at him. "He can't get you anymore. He's dead; you're safe." Bella blinked at him with wide eyes. _Dead?_ James was a chauvinistic pig but did he deserve to die? She was tense against Edward. She nodded jerkily simply to answer and let it drop. There was so much she needed to learn about this dimension. Bella just wanted to go home.

"I...I don't think I'm hungry. I kind of just want to go to bed..." She muttered stiffly. Edward stared at her for a long moment before nodding.

"I'll tell Charlie and let myself out." His cold lips dropped her hers and she almost pulled away at the shot of the lack of warmth to him. It was so hard to get used to how he felt. After the initial shock of cold that shouldn't have been a shock anymore, she leaned her lips back into his.

No matter how she felt on the inside, here she was allowed to do that. She was allowed to enjoy kissing him, to enjoy loving him. Her head tilted ever so lightly to the side and he made a noise against her lips. Breathing deeply though his nose, it almost looked like his eyes were rolling back behind his closed lids. She didn't closer hers as she watched his face work so intimately. Simple because it seemed so natural, her tongue slid out to run along his lip.

Faster than she'd decided to do it, his hands gripped her and she was at arms length. His eyes were still closed and his jaw was set stiffly. She was making so many mistakes.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, running a hand up his arm apologetically. He opened his eyes slowly and let his breath out.

"You know I can't," was all he said. Then, he squeezed her hand and dropped a quick, dry kiss to her forehead so she knew all was forgiven. "I'll see you later, okay?"

She nodded as he disappeared into the room where Charlie still sat. Bella didn't move until she heard the front door shut softly. Deciding she never told the _other_ Charlie when she went to bed, Bella went straight up to her room. Curiously, she wandered over to where her parents slept. The room was dark and bare and obviously manly. Nothing about that house said Renee in anyway. It was obvious she wasn't there. Passing back through the hallway and reaching for her door, Bella stopped suddenly.

There was no other door. Just to see if she was sane, she opened the only other door in the hall besides hers and her father's. It was a linen closet. Nothing else. Shoving into her room, she looked around sharply. The room wasn't half as lived in as her other but it was much bigger, nearly twice the size of her other room. Sitting on her bed, a strange feeling passed over her. Jacob didn't live with them.

She couldn't even remember when her parents converted the second bedroom into two rooms for Jacob. With a deep breath, Bella fell back onto her bed. A part of her didn't even want to think about how she got there or how to get out. A part her wanted to cry. She decided to sleep instead.

Edward refrained from slamming his car door when he made it home. Esme met him at the door to the garage with a smile.

"Everything all right with Bella?" she asked pleasantly. He frowned.

"Something's wrong and she won't tell me."

_You're just petulant because you can't hear her..._ She teased silently before going to meet Carlisle in the living room. Edward rolled his eyes. With nod to Carlilse, who was sitting in reading, he decided to talk to Jasper. He may have been slightly afraid of Bella, afraid of himself around her, but he was so intuitive, and Edward was sure Alice would put her two cents in as well. As if she could help it.

Jasper didn't move when Edward entered the room he and Alice shared but she nearly jumped. It was a slight twitch but she merely darted her eyes to look at Edward quickly, humming 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall in her head.

"What is it, Edward?" Jasper asked calmly, casting a glance at Alice.

"I just came from Bella's. She's been acting strange."

Jasper sighed. "How so?"

Edward sat down, thinking about his interaction with Bella that night, as if to check and be sure it all happened the way it did.

"Everything was normal until we were watching TV with Charlie. She must have been thinking about something that started to freak her out because after about an hour she looked at me completely different. Like she didn't know me."

Alice was watching quietly, casually glancing down at her nails, still humming in her head. Edward continued. "At one point...I'm sure that at one point she was actually afraid of me."

Jasper looked up sharply. He didn't have to say it, even think it. Bella was anything but afraid of vampires.

"That's not even the strangest part. She... she asked if I was hungry."

Silence filled the space. "I...why would she ask that?" Jasper asked quietly. Edward shook his head.

Edward realized there was nothing Jasper could say to make him feel any different, any better. Alice remained quiet, humming in her head.

"Just...watch," Jasper advised. "If it gets out of hand, bring her over and we'll just ask, point blank. Alice and I were thinking about going hunting in a day or so. We'll take Rose and Emmett with us and you and Carlisle and Esme can talk to her. She'll feel safe, maybe she'll open up."

Looking up helplessly, Edward sighed, "Why can't she open up to _me_?"

Alice's voice was strangely quiet. "Maybe Carlisle and Esme would be added pressure. The whole parental thing, ya know?"

Edward stared at her but then nodded. "Okay."

Bella had a lot of trouble sleeping. She dreamed of James Witherdale, twisted and demented into a demon of sorts. She shot up in bed, staring at her hand. It was normal and she was confused. Trying to quell her beating heart, she lay back in bed. It was all a game because she knew she wouldn't be falling asleep. Her senses were high and every brush of the wind past the window.

She knew she needed sleep,but Bella should have known it was completely useless. Even then, she had to talk herself into opening her eyes. When she did, she saw the face in the window. Bella screamed. James. It's James for her.

Suddenly, Edward was there, blurring around her until his cold arms had wrapped her body. "Shhhh...," he cooed. "It's just me" He looked distraught. "Were you not expecting me?"

Before she could yell, "Why would I?" in frustration, she took a breath and relaxed into his arms.

"Sorry. Bad dream," she mumbled instead. This Edward liked to watch her sleep just like her Edward. It was normal here.

"Calm down. Charlie would have heard that..." Sure enough, there was a knock on her door. Edwad disappeared so fast, Bella was dizzy.

"Yeah..." she mumbled and Charlie popped his head in.

If Charlie had heard her scream, he didn't mention it. Instead, he was flustered and fidgety.

"Bells, we need to go up to La Push. _Right now_."


	15. Chapter 15

Charlie was nearly incoherent, grumbling and muttering under his breath. His face was red and his jaw strained. He was extremely upset. Bella had wanted to offer to drive but it seemed like Charlie was much more willing to speed and weave in his cruiser.

Bella didn't remember Charlie being so upset in her own universe, but she had been so young. A deeply troubled feeling settled into her stomach. This was something that had happened only in her universe. Her Carlisle had said Billy was alive. He would have said something if this was something Carlisle had seen in his dreams. Discomfort made Bella tense and her eyes were wide to take in anything this universe—God or whomever—had to throw at her.

She wasn't sure what to expect. Was she really alone here? A part of her was almost happy to be able to see Jacob. But then she imagined this Jacob—impossibly tall and strong, his curtain of thick black hair buzzed away and that desire nearly fled. Jacob would still be Jacob. If she needed him, he'd be there.

Tears gathered in her eyes. When she sniffed, struggling to hold them in, Charlie glanced over. He grunted, his eyes wide and face still tense. His rough hand reached out and gripped her forearm. It was something her Charlie would never do, but here, it felt right. This Charlie was in pain but he hadn't spent years in a thankless marriage. It was one thing to feel unwanted the night your wife leaves you but it's another to see her with barely covered regret and anger in her eyes whenever she looks at you, day after day. Bella slid her fingers around her father's palm, gripping it tight. She was all he had now.

"Shouldn't we be heading toward the hospital?" She asked quietly.

Charlie shook his head. "We have to get Jacob." Her heart stung for Jacob. Now he would remember the pain of it all, unlike her Jacob back in her own universe, where he was too young to really be sad. Here, he'd know exactly what it felt to lose his father. The universes were clashing. And now she had proof that this universe was experiencing it as well.

When she looked out into the pitch black of the night, up into the trees, and only because she was looking could she see Edward, leaping from high branch to high branch. It was as if he were weightless. Then he stopped. Charlie must have passed the treaty line.

Edward not being there hurt more than it should have. It was silly, he'd be there as soon as they left the reservation. But as she gripped Charlie's free hand, the less comfortable she felt in the strange universe without Edward by her side. An unpleasant discomfort settled into her mind. She wasn't going home anytime soon, she feared, and Bella was alone.

Rain poured and pounded on the cruisers windshield. Bella could barely make out the shape of Jacob's house. In her own universe, it'd been a long time since she'd seen it. The house was dark. Charlie stopped so shortly that they both felt the tires slop into the sludge under the car. He cursed loudly.

"You go get Jacob. I'm gonna get out of this muck." He was frustrated and grieving, throwing the car into reverse and revving the engine. He stopped long enough for Bella to push herself out of the car, making an effort to pull her boots out of the thick mud under her. She ran to the porch of the Black home and hurt her knuckles as she knocked. There was no answer.

Huffing in frustration, she called to Jacob as she knocked louder. Bella kicked the door before lights elsewhere caught her eye. She turned and saw light flooding from the garage and she felt lighter in anticipation to see Jacob.

Bella ran off the porch and into the rain, arms fruitlessly hovering over her head as she did. Before going in, she paused. She had to be ready for this Jacob—taller and stronger and intimidating. Finally throwing herself around the corner.

"Jacob," she called to the figure hunched on stool, facing away from her and toward his Rabbit. He jerked his head around to look at her. Bella was torn with elation and distress. He looked broken but he was _hers_. "Jacob," she exhaled, leaving the doorway and rushing to his side. It was _her _Jacob. "It's so good to see you. I thought I was alone here."

When she threw her arms around his shoulders, he sat still and silent. The harder she hugged, the less comfortable she felt. Had she been wrong? Pulling away, she looked into his dark eyes, bloodshot and hard. "Jacob, it's me. The _real_ me."

He was silent as he searched her face. Jacob was confused, she could tell. "I didn't know there was any other kind." He muttered dryly.

Bella smiled weakly and awkwardly. She had been wrong. This Jacob was young and thin with his long hair, but he wasn't her Jacob. Her facade came up again. She had to be this universe's Bella for now. And she was still alone.

Just to smooth things out, she hugged him again and he relaxed. "Charlie's outside," she informed.

She pulled back to stand but he didn't let go. His hands gripped the back of her wet jacket and he burrowed into her neck with a near sob. "He's really gone..."

Bella nodded into his neck. "You can come live with us. I know Charlie wouldn't mind. He'll insist."

Jacob didn't say anything, only hugged her closer. To him, they probably hadn't spoken in months, even years, she didn't know. They weren't even friends and barely acquaintances. But he needed someone. There was a wet scuffing sound by the door but they didn't move.

Pulling away, Bella looked at her father in the doorway, face tight and wet from the rain but eyes red and sore from his tears. Jacob immediately got up and went to Charlie, hugging him tight. He was easily a head shorter than her father, but Bella liked how Charlie could press his cheek into the top of Jacob's head. Like they fit.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. God was confused. Suddenly, Bella was angry. Two worlds going on perfectly fine without interruption—countless others spinning and progressing the same. Why was it so important that the Almighty universe make _them_ suffer—make Bella question her morals, make Emmett hate his whole being without that dreamed blond, make Alice want to claw her eyes out, and make Jacob's heart break one too many times. That anger directed itself to her own heart momentarily because once, she'd broken her Jacob's heart, and every time they touched and smiled and laughed, she nearly broke it again.

When she snapped out of her thoughts, Bella saw that Jacob and Charlie were watching her, waiting for her to move. Obediently, she followed them outside and into the cruiser. She slid into the back, behind the black cage, next to Jacob. She wouldn't want Jacob to sit alone and Charlie would understand. Silently, Bella slide her hand over Jacob's and entwined their fingers. He looked at her with confused eyes—it was so strange how little this Jacob knew her—but she wasn't worried. It was an extraordinary situation, people did strange things, and if it ever got too much, she could brush it off as emotions later.

"It's been a while," she tried slowly. "I hate that we have to meet again like this..."

Jacob looked at her and she was almost she'd made a mistake in speaking. He looked down. "Yeah... not since prom."

Bella looked up sharply. Had they gone to prom together? Maybe touching him _really_ had been a bad idea—she had no idea what the other Bella and the other Jacob had experienced together. Her hand nearly let go of his, but he gripped at her.

He scoffed humorlessly, "He was so silly and superstitious..." Jacob muttered. Bella knew instantly from his tone that he was talking about Billy. "I mean, sending me to warn you away from your boyfriend. Crazy old man..."

Bella relaxed slightly. She'd gone to prom with Edward—only seen Jacob there. But he cast her a look that said he wished it were different.

"He was a great man," Charlie grumbled roughly. He wasn't chiding Jacob. It seemed more an offhand comment than anything else.

"Yeah," Jacob agreed, "he was."

The rest of the ride to the hospital was quiet except for the pouring and pounding of the rain. Charlie was going faster than necessary, but Bella didn't put much thought into it. Jacob had begun to cry, sobbing to himself, but he was nearly silent. He'd hunched over and she couldn't even see his face. Slowly, she leaned over and lay her head a top his back, holding back tears herself.

Looking out the wet window upside down, Bella watched as best she could for Edward. A part of her knew she wouldn't see him, that was the point, but her heart ached when she didn't catch a glimpse.

Viewing Billy's body wasn't anything more than she'd expected. Jacob stared blankly at Billy's weathered face--quiet and calm with peace and marred by red and angry flesh wounds. Charlie was a near spitting image of Jacob. Once out of the cold little stark white room, Charlie pulled Jacob into a hug and they held there for a moment.

"I'll get everyone some coffee," Bella decided, leaving them to have some time to themselves.

Funnily enough, Carlisle was the last person she'd expected to see at the hospital, but when he found her at the waiting lounge, his amber eyes looked worried.

"Bella," he called, making her jump at the familiarity of his voice. She turned to him. "What's happened? You've been crying."

Eying him closely, she said, "Billy died. Jacob's dad."

Carlisle let out a sad sigh. "I saw him being taken in. I know he was Charlie's best friend. I'm sorry." He was clam and smooth but almost awkward. Not her Carlisle. This one had all the right words and tone, but he wasn't sure what to do with Bella.

"Can...can you find Edward for me? He should be around" Bella couldn't understand why she was asking, but she was _allowed_ to ask here. "Can...can you ask him to be waiting at home for me?" Her voice cracked a bit.

Carlisle nodded and turned to leave her. He paused then looked back at her, raising a cold hand and resting it on her shoulder, attempting to comfort her. His hand was gone in a second and he was off again to find his son.

Bella hung around in the waiting mess, giving Jacob and Charlie some more time. Finally, they ended up finding her and she gave them smiles earnestly, handing over prepared coffee. They took it gratefully. It wasn't very late, maybe 10:00pm but they were all exhausted.

The ride back to the Swans house was silent as Bella sat in the back with Jacob again. They held hands again. The rain had stopped and Bella looked out the window, looking for Edward. She couldn't find him and all she hoped was the Carlisle had found him.

In the house, that had grown dark in their absence, Charlie set about setting the couch up for Jacob. She wasn't sure if Jacob and Charlie had talked about him staying, but she wouldn't want Jacob going to an empty home the night his father died.

She sat with Jacob for a little bit. They didn't talk much, party because she didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she knew Quil and Embry, or if he did for that matter, so she had no ground to tread lightly on. A part of her was waiting with Jacob longer than necessary to give Edward more time to get to her room if he wasn't there already or if he was going at all. A fear of disappointment sat in her stomach as she said goodnight to Jacob and ascended the stairs.

Bella didn't look around her room when she opened the door, only turned her back on it as she closed her door, afraid what she would feel like if Edward wasn't there. But he was. Before she could turn back around to check, his chest was pressed to her back and his hard cold arms were surrounding her waist.

"Oh, Edward," she gushed with relief that he was there. "You came."

He laughed softly into her ear. "You had doubts?"

Bella turned around in his arms and hugged him. She was overtaken with the urge to cry but before she could, she pulled back and kissed Edward hard. He stiffened but she wasn't put off. She needed him and she wasn't afraid. Slowly, he relaxed against her and took her over to the bed, setting her down and straddling her waist.

Her hands gripped at the back of his jacket desperately. She needed his comfort, no matter how cold or hard his skin was. A little dark part inside her was made when she woke up in a strange dimension with no help and support. She was a shot in the dark. And at that moment, she needed someone.

Edward let it go on for nearly a minute before he pulled away. "I--" he started.

Bella kissed his lips briefly to stop him. "I know."

With that, she nudged his chest and he went to the side, curling up against her. She nuzzled her head into his neck and feel asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

So it's been entirely too long, I know. But I'm not done with this, guys, not at all, so even if time between chapters is long, have faith.

I'm glad that this is still getting new readers (a fact that amazes me) even without a recent new chapter. Two months is pretty bad isn't it? Well, it's better than I used to be at updating, really it's an improvement. I appreciate all of you sticking with me.

There was some drama with the writing of this chapter, but I pulled it off and I'm extremely proud of it. I'll explain more at the end...

I'm writing today on the occasion of the New Moon teaser that premiered recently. Enjoy :D

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Bella woke up, still encased in Edward's arms. When she looked up at him, blinking blearily, she was startled by his stare, completely awake and intent on her face. She remembered that vampires didn't sleep.

"You didn't dream," he marveled quietly. She made a noncommittal and tired noise, not sure how to answer. Did she dream a lot here?

Bella stretched and Edward rolled onto his back as if he were going to stretch, but he sat still as stone, his eyes never leaving her. It was strange how subtlety inhuman he was. Maybe her other self never noticed because she'd never sat face to face with a woefully human Edward. Here, where she expected him to fidget and falter, he was completely unmoved and in control. She supposed he had to be.

After a moment of simply staring and thinking. Edward opened his mouth. It was as if he was going through the motions of sighing before he spoke, but no breath was exhaled or taken in. Another tic he'd acquired charading as a man. If only she'd had his other self to put against him to show how very off he was in his act. Human Edward would have never held her gaze so long.

Then she realized that she'd laid in this bed with her Edward before. It was the very thing she understood this Edward couldn't ever experience. Then she thought again, staring back into the depths of those golden eyes. They had a child, or so Carlisle had alluded at the hospital. Then they did have sex at some point. Had they done it already?

She reached forward without thinking, pressing her palm to his hard, cold cheek. His eyes held hers for only a second as she dragged her fingers down his face to the crook of his neck before his lids shut decisively. He inhaled deeply, his face inclining minutely to rest his nose in the place here her hand met her wrist. With a small fond smile, she patted his chest and took her hand away mercifully. Edward could barely control his desire (for her body or her blood, she wasn't sure) when she brushed against him, let alone be close enough to make love. No, they were still very early in their relationship.

Bella was hit with a realization. She tried not to let it show, the surprise, but she caught the small twitch of Edward's eyebrow when he recognized a change in her face. She smiled weakly at him and stretched again just for an excuse to not look at him. Her mind raced because here she was, _completely comfortable_ in this alternate universe. Of course, she was careful, but she wasn't afraid of Edward anymore.

Edward's hand grazed the small of her back as she turned away to throw her legs over the side off the bed, slouching in the morning light seeping into the room. His caresses were ice cold but they filled her with the most comfortable feeling. She wanted to fall back into the bed and just spend the rest of the day there. In some ironic way, being with this vampire Edward just felt right. Everyone here knew of Edward's feelings for Bella and hers in return, and while this Jacob might harbor a schoolboy crush for her, he barely knew Bella here and suddenly she didn't have to worry about his feelings.

A pang of guilt hit her stomach but she pushed it away, selfishly not wanting to face her Jacob in her mind--face the look of his eyes as he resigned himself to unrequited love and attraction. She couldn't ever tell him that "unrequited" was entirely the wrong word because both were definitely requited. Maybe that's why she couldn't face Jacob directly about their relationship—because she knew anything she said would come out wrong. Bella hated semantics.

Edward leaned up, his chin resting on her shoulder and inhaling her scent. She let her eyes drift shut, shoving the thoughts away. This was okay because it didn't need words, no semantics. In that moment, Bella envied the other Bella. She got to wake up to Edward's cold embrace every morning, no questions asked. All Bella knew was kicking James out before the sun was up.

The thought of James sent a chill down her back that had nothing to do with Edward's fingertips running up her arm. She remembered the look in Carlisle's eyes when she'd mentioned his name back before she'd falled into Dimension X. And how this Edward had alluded to James in her nightmares, that James Witherdale was dead. The subject felt tense then, and Bella didn't think bringing him up would bode well with this Edward. Bella was very obviously meant to know who James was and why he was such a bad thing. That subject went undressed.

Edward snorted to himself, a rush of air passed her ear. Turning to him, she caught his eye and his hand on her arm came to her cheek. His eyes were anxious. "If _only_ I could hear you," his voice was quiet and wistful, nearly agitated. "You're especially thoughtful this morning. _Did_ you dream?"

Bella shook her head firmly and got up to go to her dresser. "Don't remember. I'm just...thinking about Jacob." It was the truth, partially, but just not about _this _Jacob.

Edward stared at the door. "He's awake."

The idea that Edward could tell that without effort still amazed Bella. Edward continued before she could ask about him. "His mind is calm. He's thinking about Billy, yes, but only of their happy memories."

Bella stared at Edward as blankly as possible, trying to not display her mind racing. That wasn't the first time he'd insinuated something like that. He would joke about how there were times he wished he knew what she was thinking. But everyone felt that way at some point, so what was it about the way Edward said it that made it feel special? Back home, Alice and Edward talked about him being able to read people really well. Was that a hint of something from vampire Edward?

Could Carlisle read minds? She assumed not; he'd had too many chances to say so and he'hadn't mentioned it at all. Alice had mentioned seeing certain things in the future; perhaps certain vampires were special. Well, Bella mentally conceded, more special than a vampire was to begin with. Maybe Edward really could read minds. But if he could, why not hers? If he could read her mind, he definitely would have said so because he obviously would know she wasn't _his_ Bella. Maybe he could only read certain minds. Taking a deep breath, she decided to through caution to the wind and test Edward.

"He's not thinking anything disturbing, is he?" She paused for effect, as if she was thinking of it all right then. "I mean...with what's happened, I just can't tell where his mind's at..." She kept her voice as causal as possible but did actually care about what Jacob was feeling.

Edward didn't notice anything odd in her question. "His thoughts are very down to earth. He is sad...but he's accepted what has happened. Jacob is putting a lot of faith in the lore of his tribe, reassuring himself that the end of life in this plane is not the end of him altogether..."

Bella smiled, proud of her find and proud of Jacob for being so practical and grounded. She took a step towards Edward, still sitting on the edge of her bed, and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and in only a moment she was wrapping her arms around his head and shoulders, pulling him to her chest. His arms wound tightly around her waist and hips as he buried his head in her stomach. She felt him inhale. That was something she was getting used to. Bella merely enjoyed the complete freedom she had in that moment. She could touch and caress and it was all okay, because to this Edward, they loved each other, not matter what Bella actually felt. And that she was unsure of.

She pulled back, only to drop her lips to his, taking his mouth softly but possessively. He pressed against her, into the kiss, and Bella was reveling in their closeness, the absolute no-questions-asked-freedom she had. Then she felt him stiffen beneath her. He didn't pull away but she realized that his arms, so tight around her, were meant to keep her close but also keep her in place, so she couldn't press deeper into him. His arms were stiff between the desire to pull her closer so he could indulge himself and the practicality of pushing her away to keep control. When she looked down at him, his eyes still closed from when they'd kissed, she realized that while she had emotional freedom here, their physical freedom depended on one thing: Keep Edward in control.

Stepping away to give him some space, she ran a hand up his neck and into his hair. His amber eyes opened slowly and he looked at her heavily. Scratching just behind his ear, Bella smiled at Edward before letting her hand fall to his cheek. "I'm going down to see how he's doing...I think I'm going to stay with him today. I should get to know him better." Bella looked around her room, her fingers still playing around the nape of his neck, knowing she should leave him be but she selfishly didn't want to break contact. "...because well...he might be living with us soon. There's plenty of room for another bed in here..." She said it as if she'd only come up with it just then.

Edward frowned but didn't speak. He took the hand touching him by the wrist, pulling her to look at him again. "All right. But will you come over tonight? Esme was just mentioning how she doesn't get to see you enough..."

Bella smiled at him to block the next flurry of thoughts. Who was Esme? Why hadn't she heard anything about her before? She obviously meant something to Edward. His sister? Another relative? If she was, would that mean she' should have shown up in Bella's own dimension? But for the first time since arriving, Bella didn't care. She was comfortable without asking questions.

Dropping her head, she claimed Edward's mouth again. Maybe it was because he was talking about another girl, one Bella didn't know, and she felt the need to be possessive, but she let her mind rationalize while her hand went to grip at Edward's neck. He let out a shaky breath against her mouth that told Bella she'd be the death of him. She smirked into the kiss at the dangerous truth of that figure

of speech.

Pressing into him again, her neck bent to kiss him firmly as his head was tilted as far up as it could go to reach her. This was her goodbye until evening, she thought, so she let it linger. He pulled away first and she understood. Oh, how she understood when she caught a look deep in his golden eyes. She smirked at him and his eyes narrowed.

"What's gotten into you?" His voice was strained as he allowed himself the luxury of gripping at the small of her back.

She smiled impishly, a smile she learned from being a sister to Jacob. "Nothing." Pulling away completely, she realized that she was partially knelt on the bed, halfway in his lap. "I'm going down now. Will you come for me, or should I just meet you at your house?"

Edward stood, closing some space between them, but considering the heat in both of their eyes, he cleverly didn't get closer than necessary. "I'll come. At sun down."

She nodded and he was gone, the window suddenly open, the morning breeze drifting in. Bella dressed quickly, smiling the whole while. She wondered absently if this Bella ever felt so good. Stopping short in the threshold of her bedroom, Bella's eyes were wide with realization. She'd never even thought about what had actually happened to the _other_ Bella. Had she taken her place in this Bella's own dimension? Had she been as confused and scared?

Bella realized that even if that were so, the other Bella would be much better off. Yes, she'd be scared or intimidated and disoriented at first, but then she'd be surrounded with people who knew exactly what was going on, at least in theory. Bella envied her other self for a moment.

But then again, if she was merely floating in space, caught between the dimensional planes, that would be something else entirely and Bella began to worry for her other self. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Bella needed to stop thinking of the trivial things and focus on the boy who'd just lost his father. She rounded into the kitchen with an easy and well placed smile.

Charlie and Jacob looked up at her from the table where they were eating their breakfasts. "Morning," she smiled at them casually.

She went to her father and put a hand in his hair affectionately before dropping to kiss the top of his head. If he thought it strange, she could merely put the action to trying to appeal to a grieving man. She then moved to Jacob.

"Morning, Bells," Charlie grunted in a sort of dreamy sense, not sure what was happening or how to react to it. Bella gripped at Jacob's shoulder reassuringly in greeting before moving to the refrigerator. She felt their eyes burning into her back as she pulled out the milk.

Taking a sip from the carton, Bella leaned against the counter. She smiled widely at Jacob. "So what'dya say, think the rust bucket needs some tending to today?"

They worked on her Chevy all morning, into the afternoon. It was mostly quiet as Jacob and Bella simply enjoyed one another's company. She'd seen her own Jacob do the same tune ups time and time again. He'd even taught her a few things, but she was happy merely fetching the tools that this Jacob asked for, letting him get lost in the guts of her truck. Every time she brought him back the tool, he smiled at her in thanks, a smile that reminded her so much of her brother Jacob. Why had the Jacob in her dreams been so different from this Jacob? What changed?

Close to two o'clock, Bella leaned on her elbows at the edge of the truck, her head dipping under the hood. She started slowly, not to startle or make Jacob uncomfortable. "So...how're you doing?"

Jacob didn't respond right away, only the wrench in his hand stilling in place at her words. He stayed frozen for a moment, as if Bella were motion sensitive, taken aback by her sudden question. Then Jacob pulled himself out from under the hood. He wiped his brow, his eyes set on the engine without actually seeing it.

"I'm...doing all right." He paused because it sounded more like a question than an answer, brow furrowing in thought. Bella could see he was searching himself, asking himself privately if that was the right answer. He looked at her and the intensity of his dark eyes startled Bella. "I feel like I can't live without him. But...I know he'd want me to keep living. I remember him saying something like that about Mom..."

Bella nodded but remained silent. His eyes refocused on the engine then unfocused again. The wrench slipped from his hand and landed on the ground with a soft muted thunk. Bella almost panicked as she watched his nose screw up and his eyes slam shut. She owed it to him to get his mind off of it, take him away from the subject. She owed it to him to not let him cry unless he really wanted.

Floundering for a new topic, Bella frantically searched her mind for anything she'd learned about this Jacob from her Carlisle in her own dimension. Then she blurted, "How's the pack?"

Jacob's whole head snapped to look at her and the sharp movement made her jump. His brow furrowed and he stared at her with wet eyes but he was soundly detached from the tears by her question. Bella was anxious for his response and she smiled awkwardly at him. Then he barked a laugh.

"You sound just like Dad..." He laughed again, rubbing vigorously at his eye with the butt of his hand, effectively scrubbing away the tears. Bella laughed too, but only to make herself more comfortable. It didn't help much. "He was the only one to talk about the tribe like that..."

"Really, Jake," Bella urged as if she really needed to know, rather than get his mind off of her strange choice of words, "How's Quil and Embry?"

"Oh man, I haven't called them...." Jacob realized, running his hand through his hair. Then he looked at her again with those same dark confused eyes. "Wait, you know Quil and Embry?"

Bella laughed nervously. "Well, not personally. Only that Billy mentioned them...yeah..."

Jacob shrugged. "I need to go call them." He put his tools away and went inside. Bella followed but kept back enough so she wouldn't feel the need to speak again and screw something else up.

Jacob talked on the phone for a long time, sitting at the kitchen counter as Bella made them a late lunch. They acknowledged each other often but silently. She'd laugh at the strange sound of only hearing his side of the conversation while he'd mime boredom as Embry excitedly told him about when he'd talked to the girl in his Math class. Bella also ran a hand across his shoulders when Jacob's voice got chocked or too quiet, telling him silently that she was still there, comforting him before the shame of nearly crying with his guy friends as witnesses. Neither Quil nor Embry thought twice off it and Bella often could hear the incoherent murmurs of their condolences. Jacob seemed to like it when she played with his hair and while the soup on the stove simmered, she sat beside him at the table to absently run her fingers through it, sometimes bringing her fingers close enough to massage his scalp.

Jacob was smiling to himself when he got up to hang the phone on the receiver. He came back to the table as Bella stood up to serve them. The two ate, again the companionable silence setting them at ease. They talked about inconsequential things here and there, about school and life on the reservation. Though he was handling himself well, Bella tried to keep the conversation away from Billy, or tribe politics because he'd soon be knee deep in the whims of out of touch, old Natives.

Bella was even at ease when Jacob asked quietly about things with Edward. She had some leeway here because Jacob didn't know many facts about their relationship—which was good because neither did Bella. She didn't even know how long they'd been dating at that point, but Jacob obviously knew so she never had to answer that question.

Jacob smiled softly at her. "You're talking like you guys started dating yesterday. Rachel always used to talk about how she'd lose interest after about a month, want something new, ya know? But you guys seem to be good as new..."

Bella smiled back. "I guess sometimes I still do feel like it's brand new." And it was, to this Bella, anyway.

"But watch out for guys, Bella. Sometimes I'm amazed at the shit Embry will say about chicks..." Jacob rolled his eyes and Bella laughed.

She patted his arm reassuringly. "Edward is the perfect gentleman, Jake. Don't you worry your pretty head." Bella got up, ruffling the hair on his head before taking their bowls to the sink. She caught a look at the darkening sky through the window. "Oh...speaking of the gentleman, he's supposed to pick me up soon."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Even as Bella was halfway to it, Jacob got up to beat her there, blocking her path.

"Jacob," Edward greeted softly. "I heard about the accident. My condolences."

Jacob dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment but didn't move. Bella looked around him at Edward, not sure what to do—not sure what Jacob was doing.

"Uhm, well, we're off, I guess. Remind Charlie I'm at the...Cullens', all right?" Bella had nearly said Mason without thinking so and she tried to keep casual. She promoted Jacob to move and only after a moment did he move. Bella went to Edward, smiling at him, but looked back into the doorway where Jacob still stood.

Without a second thought, Bella went to hug Jacob. "I'll be back later. Remember to remind Charlie, all right?"

Jacob stared at her, eyes searching hers. "All right." Bella kissed his cheek and left. Jacob watched them go down the drive to Edward's car and only closed after they'd gotten in. Edward frowned, his pale hand gripping the gear shift.

"Maybe you shouldn't get too close to him, Bella." His eyes never left the road he sped down.

She looked over at him indignantly and surprised. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He..he might get the wrong idea." Edward's jaw set as he refused to look at her.

Bella's brow furrowed, confused at Edward's sudden unconscious jealousy. "He's dad just _died,_ Edward. I think I have the right to be a little supportive and consoling."

Then Edward looked over at her. "He didn't want you to leave. You don't need to be able to read his mind to tell. Jacob was practically blocking your exit."

Bella floundered for a moment. At the time, she hadn't wanted to realize it. At home, subconscious flirting on Jacob's side corresponded to feigning obliviousness on Bella's side. She simply pretended she didn't think he was hinting at anything; and after years if it, perhaps Bella really couldn't tell when Jacob had ulterior motives.

Edward scoffed, staring at her as he gripped the wheel, their surroundings blurring around them. "That little kiss was the highlight of his day."

Her mouth dropped, cheeks flushing. After a moment, she responded briskly. "Maybe I wanted to give him a highlight, considering his low point was _his father dying_. Honestly, Edward, you're being stupid."

Edward's brow creased deeply, an expression set in stone, as he stared at her, his eyes boring into her. The scrutiny made Bella uncomfortable. She looked away, trying to remain casual. Thankfully, they were nearly to the house, going up the long forest drive that she knew led to the Cullen home. Bella had been up that drive in her own dimension only the day before.

The moment the car stopped, she got out in a huff, trying to bring her nerves back down. So yeah, Jacob had been flirtatious, in a subtle way, but she was so used to spending her life with Jacob. So used to the fact that most of their issues had been addressed or solved or subdued, never to be spoken of again. Bella blushed. She'd still never told a soul about her first kiss. Everyone had assumed to was Mike, but Jake had beaten him to it.

Edward followed her toward the door connecting the garage to the house, his hands shoved into his pockets and his eyes burning holes through her. She stopped at the door to wait for Edward but it opened faster than she thought any door could move.

The woman at the door beamed at Bella, startling the younger girl with her beauty. Despite her irateness, a jealously boiled in the pit of Bella's stomach. This must be Esme.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, Bella." Esme pulled her into a strong, cold hug and Bella had to remind herself to hug back.

Edward slid beside them. "Evening, Esme." He smiled at her and then dropped an affectionate kiss to her cheek. Bella glared at them, a look they were oblivious to.

Suddenly, she snapped mockingly, "Don't get to close, Eddie, _she might get the wrong idea_." Then pushed passed them into the house.

Edward was in front of her in a second, his speed making Bella jump. "What does that even _mean, _Bella?" He gripped at her arm tightly and she twisted away.

"You have the audacity to get mad at me for consoling Jacob, then a second later, laying lips on her!"

Esme had followed them into the living room, looking at them in complete alarm. "What's happened, Edward?"

He shook his head. Bella realized everyone was there. Jasper, watching her stiffly, was sitting across from Carlisle, playing a game of chess. Emmett was sitting on the couch, looking back at them, eyebrows knit together. The illusive Rosalie had her head in his lap and was scowling at her. Alice was wandering into the room at human speed, watching them all curiously.

Carlisle got up and joined Esme, who was terrified of what she could have done to cause such a reaction. "What's going on?" he asked, his tone making it a demand. His arm went to wrap around Esme's shoulders protectively.

Bella was hit with a wave of shame. She watched the couple, Carlisle watching them with authoritative, yellow eyes, while Esme was leaning into Carlisle's chest, watching adamantly, trying to understand. Without thinking, she muttered almost inaudibly, "_She's_ why Carlisle wants to be here so bad..."

"What is she going on about, Edward?" Rosalie's voice, an insult directed toward her, was sharp but beautiful and Bella envied her instantly. She liked Rosalie much better when she was a mysterious dream. Bella had also forgotten that what was nearly inaudible to her was on surround sound in a room full of vampires.

_I'm so stupid_, Bella thought, sighing exhaustedly and covering her her face with her hand. Edward stepped forward, invading her space.

"Yeah, you are stupid," he muttered quietly and Bella's eyes snapped to look at him. _Could_ he actually read her mind? Edward smirked, "I know your face, Bella. And I know what regret looks like."

Bella's mind was overloading. Maybe coming to the Cullens' wasn't the best idea. Edward took her hand in his, squeezing it.

The tone of his voice, the look in his eyes, was suddenly level "I let it go last night, but Bella, I have to know. What's going on with you?"

It was the question she'd been dreading and her heart clenched. Her mouth gaped, fishing for a proper answer to explain her momentary insanity. Edward, stepping closer, wasn't helping her keep her mind.

"You were actually scared of me last night. You asked me if...if I was hungry." Esme inhaled sharply at that. "I scared you when I came to your room last night, like you weren't expecting me. You're suddenly treating that Quileute like you'd known him all your life. You called me _stupid_. And...and on the ride over you..." Edward paused, as if this were the point that worried him the most, "..you didn't say a _thing_ about my driving."

Emmett snorted.

"And then the second you see Esme, it's like you've gone mad. Really, Bella, I have to know." Edward's eyes were earnest and imploring. "Dammit, Alice, will you stop singing in your damn head!" Edward snapped at her suddenly, startling Alice. "The last thing I need to hear right now is _Don't Stop Believing_!" Alice looked sheepish.

For a second, Bella wasn't convinced Edward _couldn't_ read her mind. He knew how to read her too well. But if so, why would he ignore such strange thoughts? Maybe if the thought was directed toward him. As Edward began to rub this thumb reassuringly on this inside of her palm, Bella closed her eyes and thought, _I don't belong here. I'm not the Bella you think I am._

Edward's eyes snapped up at her with such ferocity, Bella jumped. Eyes wide, Bella gasped. So he could! There was no way he could play that reaction off as a reaction to anything but the thoughts in her head.

But she was wrong. Edward was focused on the hand he was holding, his thumb ceasing from rubbing absent circles and beginning to rub very distinct, searching U's.

And then he asked.

"Who_ are_ you?" The room was silent.

Edward pulled her hand to him, rougher than he might have meant, fingers pressing into the soft, flesh of her palm.

Bella stuttered. "I..."

Edward looked at her again, the fury in his eyes planting a seed of fear deep into her gut. "Tell me _who the fuck you are!_"

Bella tried to pull her hand away but he gripped her tight. No one in the room knew what to do. "Edward, it's me, it really is, just--" Her voice cracked with tension and fear.

"_Just? _Just what!?" Edward shoved her, shooting them back into the wall and shaking the house on its foundations. Esme screamed. Bella gasped, bile rising in her throat. "Tell me! Tell me who I shared a bed with last night!"

Bella wheezed. one hand gripping at his arm, her nails scratching metallically on his skin. "_Edward, _please, it's me! I swear! Just let me explain!"

"Explain?" Edward had no patience left for this impostor. His arm pressed across her neck threateningly. "Fine, _explain_, how in the world you could heal a vampire bite, _Bella,_" the name was spat mockingly. He wrenched the hand he still gripped like an iron vice up to show her why he knew she wasn't the right Bella, but she didn't understand the meaning of the perfect unmarred skin of her hand. "_Explain_ how this spot of flesh, _this spot, _is beautifully smooth..." He was hissing words into her face now, "_This spot _where I _sucked_ my Bella's blood, _sucked _James's venom out before it burned through her body, _burned through her soul_?!"

Bella was crying now, cheeks bright rest with blood as she tried to breathe with his forearm crushing her windpipe.

There was a blur of action and a metallic clap of thunder. Edward was tackled off of her, rocketing ten feet into the nearest perpendicular wall. He hadn't let go of the offending hand and Bella screamed as she was dragged with them, the cry blood curdling as her shoulder dislocated.

Alice had Edward pressed into the wall, her teeth bared and prone at Edward's throat. After a moment, the entire room taunt with silence, Alice patted his cheek. "All right, I think it's time we all sat down and had a chat with this small town girl."

* * *

Author's Note:

More like Author's Essay, but I digress...

I cried for this chapter, I really did. I did a stupid thing while writing. I sent the in-progress chapter to myself so I could write at work in my off time—I really was trying to get this out as soon as I could. I had a lot of down time, and I ended up writing two and a quarter pages. I was _really _proud of them too. Then Word closed. Just like that.

I couldn't believe it. I'd been saving it, I'd been doing everything right.

But I'd never saved it to the computer. I was just saving my open attachment, which is kind of like reassuring an imaginary friend that he's real. I spent at least an hour fruitlessly looking for it...I was pretty sure it was gone but when a woman on the phone, one who was helping me look even though I'd looked all the places she was telling me, when she said "I've got some bad news" I got all choked up. I was trying to work through it, but I did shed a tear.

But fuck it all, I decided that if I could write it once, I could write it again and was determined to rewrite it and make it better, dammit. So _please_ let me know what you think of this one. I love hearing from you guys, talking to you. I guess that's why I write such damn long authors notes. It's been a while.

So I wrote those last two paragraphs of the AN back before I rewrote my pages lost in cyber space, but NOW it's finished and I'm pretty damn happy with this chapter and I can say confidently that this one was worth the wait. Agree or not?

Now I've got a question: How did you find out about this story? I mean, last I checked and this story is sitting somewhere on the 563rd page and always being pushed back by new stories, sometimes pages of new stories a day. And while that's normal, I'm still getting new readers, more everyday, even after the gross amount of time since the last update. So let me know, how'd you find this story? Hear about it? A friend told you? Or were you really just wandering around the 563rd page?

**If I haven't backhandedly alluded to it enough, I'll be blunt. _Review!_**


	17. Chapter 17

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Whilst I've been away, _String Theor_y,was nominated and made it through to the final stage of voting in the Indie Twific Awards in the category of Best Alternate Universe WIP. This, along with manyafandom's lovely rec on The Lazy, Yet Discerning Ficster has brought a lot of you to me. I'm endlessly grateful.

Final voting for the Indies is 7/22-7/26, make sure to stop by and VOTE!

For a crazy little idea that I'm pretty sure occurred to me on the toilet, this story has exploded before my eyes. You can't even begin to realize how proud of this story I am and how much I love you all for making it possible.

A special note to EVERYONE who has spread the word about my baby here and for all of you who have bared with me through the growth of my writing through this story.

* * *

None of the questions Edward had asked were answered in the first few moments. Bella was a crumpled heap on the floor, sobbing gracelessly. Her hand gripped at her useless arm, the arm with the shoulder a little too forward and a little too far out. When Bella had screamed, Jasper had jumped to his feet, tense and steeling himself in the case she'd spilt blood. Emmett gripped at Rosalie's shoulder, the one he'd leisurely been stroking and Rosalie had herself up on an elbow, watching tersely. Esme's hands had flown to her mouth in horror, aghast at something she'd indirectly caused. Alice made a move towards Bella, reaching for her, before Carlisle's raised hand stopped her. Bella hadn't seen him move and she jumped, then moaned in pain, when realized he was knelt beside her.

"Alice, my serum, if you don't mind," Carlisle asked curtly, hands gingerly taking Bella's arm from her grip.

Alice nodded firmly before her face faltered to an awkward smile. "Uh, which one is that again?"

Carlisle turned to look at her, his brow furrowed. Jasper tore his gaze enthralled on Bella to look at Alice, his head turned curiously. Carlisle moved Bella's arm too far she and screamed again. Suddenly the attention was back to Bella.

"The third syringe from the right, Alice, just go!" He turned his attention back to Bella. He shushed her gently, his free hand petting her head. "Every thing's going to be fine, Bella," he soothed.

Edward hadn't moved from where Alice had put him, facing the wall with his palms pressed against it. His shoulders were hunched and his entire body was tense. Alice was back in the room then, holding out a syringe anxiously to Carlisle, who took it immediately.

"It's me, I swear," Bella mumbled wetly, her throat tight. She was nearly incoherent. "I _promis_e, It's me." Over and over she muttered as if they'd all believe her if she said it enough. Edward turned minutely to look at her, his eyes wide and his entire face set in stone.

"Now, Bella, this is a mild muscle relaxant and pain reliever," Carlisle held the syringe gingerly in nimble fingers, checking the dose and swirling it absently "This will help with the pain, but it will get much better once I've set your shoulder again."

Bella didn't answer, only muttering in the delirium of her pain. She didn't react when he'd inserted the syringe and when he picked her up as carefully as possible, she only groaned. Emmett and Rosalie vacated the couch without a word and Carlisle set Bella down.

"I should have told you. It's me...I'm so _sorry, _Edward." Bella's voice was small, but Edward nearly jumped at the sound of his name, his fingers digging into the wall. Carlisle didn't try to silent her anymore, merely setting to work as the room looked on. Bella kept apologizing and promising that she was who she'd said she was as Carlisle raised her arm above her head then pulled it down to cross her chest. Her moans were the punctuation of her pleading. She cried out when there was pressure and the sound pushed Edward's fists completely though the wall but it was a staccato sound as the ball of her humerus popped back into her socket. Immediately, Bella exhaled, and she closed her eyes in relief.

When she opened them, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett were surrounded around her, looking down anxiously. The second her eyes refocused she tried to sit up on her good arm. "Edward..." She searched for him in the room. Carlisle pressed a hand to her back, helping her up, and Bella caught a look at him over the back of the couch, his back still to her and facingthe wall.

"Edward," she called again, getting up earnestly. She tripped on the rug, falling to her knees. Esme and Alice went to help her up but Bella was already crawling toward Edward, unstopped. "Edward, please," a sob got caught in his throat, "Listen to me..."

"Listen to her," Esme said quietly, but the underlying tone made Edward turn around. Very slowly, he pulled his closed fists from the wall, and he turned as if every bone in his body refused to move. Bella was at his feet, her good arm cradling the other, her cheeks still wet with tears.

Bella didn't know where to start, how to make everyone understand. It struck her for the first time, wondering why she'd waited until all hell broke loose to tell him. It had been stupid on her part. Bella started the only way she knew how.

Edward was looking over her head, eyes unfocused. "My name is Isabella Swan and I've lived my entire life in Forks, Washington."

The room was silent for only Bella's sniffing. Edward's eyes snapped to look at her, wide and intense. She didn't back down. "I live with my mother and my father and my adopted brother, Jacob."

Rosalie bristled, "What the hell--" She stopped when, simultaneously, Emmett put a hand on her shoulder and Esme cut the air with her hand to silence her. Rosalie crossed her arms petulantly.

Bella couldn't look at Edward, feeling a hopelessness dawn on her. Why should they ever believe her? Even then, why had she kept it as long as she did? "I...I go to school with this guy named Edward Mason..." Her eyes shut on her tears and her voice dropped to a whisper. "I barely know him.."

There was a hand on her shoulder. Bella looked up to see Alice kneeling beside her, her lithe little arms wrapping around Bella's neck. Bella took the comfort, her good arm gripping at Alice's shirt. Fingers entwined Bella's hair and she felt Alice's face at Bella's ear.

Her voice cracked in a way Bella never imagined a vampire's would. "I thought I was the only one...I thought I was here alone."

Bella gasped throatily, pushing Alice away and holding her face. Her voice was a reverent hush. "Oh god, is that you? Alice? My Alice? Is that really you?"

Alice merely nodded, her face screwing up as if she were going to cry. Bella touched her face again, pierced by her molten yellow eyes. "You're...you're a vampire..."

Alice smirked. "Weird, right?" She hugged Bella tight again. "Everything is going to be fine. They'll believe us. I've seen it."

Bella pulled away to furrow her brow at Alice. "Seen it?"

As Alice nodded, Edward was staring at them intently, wildly. "Explain this, Alice," he demanded, his voice still impossibly strained.

Alice stood up as tall as she could and then gave a hand to Bella to help her up. She brought Bella back over to the couch to set her down easily and petted her hair in an attempt to sooth her. "It's pretty far fetched, but it's the only explanation we have. You'll just have to bear with us."

"Us?" Jasper croaked. "Alice, what is the meaning of this?"

Alice smiled weakly at Jasper. "I'm sorry, Jasper. I never meant to deceive you. And I'm sure Bella hadn't either. We...we were scared." She sighed and sat next to Bella for a show of support.

"I should have told you, Edward. I should have said something right away. I'm so stupid." Bella was muttering to herself again.

"All right, enough of the blubbery vague shit. You guys need to fess up and quick." Emmett frowned at them, his arms crossed.

But Bella only wanted to explain to Edward, he was all that mattered. She took Alice's hand in her own because for once she wasn't alone in this universe. She'd never really known Alice back home, but it didn't matter. At that moment, they were all they had.

"Edward, please come and talk with me."

He looked at her, still unmoved from his spot. His jaw set tensely as if he were grinding his teeth, but his eyes were still wide and unsure. Esme motioned quietly for him to join them because they all wanted to know and after a moment, he followed. Edward stood in front of Bella, staring down at her in complete uncertainty.

"I...Alice and I aren't..." Bella tried to look him in the face but it made her feel worse. She let go of Alice and brought a hand to his knee, tugging on his pants minutely, silently asking him to sit. He didn't move. She sighed. "We aren't from here."

Rosalie scoffed.

Alice cast her a whithering look that told Bella maybe she was just as fond of this new character as Bella had been. "We're not from this universe_,"_ Alice confirmed.

There was a stunned silence. Then Emmett laughed. Bella felt foolish but when she looked at him, his eyes were shining. "What, you're aliens or something?"

There was a weight that lifted from Bella when she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She realized as she exhaled into a quiet laugh, that these were essentially the same people she knew at home. Bella looked up at Edward again, seeing a different face this time. He was confused and angry, but more angry at himself. Angry for not seeing that she wasn't his Bella or at the fact that he'd hurt Bella at all, she didn't know.

A resolve set into her shoulders. If they'd all believed it before, then they'd believe it again."You guys know about quantum physics, right?" Unlike in her own dimension, everyone had. "I'm...Alice and I are from an alternate dimension—one parallel to this."

There was another silence.

Bella pressed on. "In my dimension, you're all human, even Alice. Except you, Carlisle, my Carlisle is a vampire too. He—the Carlisle from our dimension—has a theory that when he made a choice decades ago, a choice that _you, _Carlisle, decided differently, our entire world was effected."

"What...what choice?" Carlisle stepped forward. He was completely familiar. Even Alice, her mind from their own dimension, was still cold and hard to the touch. But Carlisle hadn't changed physically, he was merely nurtured differently by the world he lived in. Though, as Bella looked into his familiar eyes, she saw the uncertainty of her own Carlisle.

"You tried to change Edward...but you couldn't. He died."

Carlisle shared a look with Esme, as if he'd expected Bella to say that. Edward looked at his parents, for all intensive purposes, listening to their minds.

Rosalie frowned. "Wait, but you said you go to school with Edward—then you tell us he died."

Alice responded, "The Edward in our dimension is a reincarnation. Or that's what our Carlisle has told us, supposedly all of us are, but there's only been proof for me and Edward. After he failed at changing Edward, he never trusted himself to change anyone again. He never changed you Esme, or you Emmett. He spend his life until now alone." She case a sympathetic look at this Carlisle.

Bella frowned at the unconvinced faces around them. "Look, it's really complicated. Extremely complicated. All that matters is the fact that our universes are colliding. It's been happening for a while now, maybe even our entire lives without us knowing, but it's becoming more and more obvious..."

Emmett sat down on her other side, intrigued. "Like how?"

Bella looked at Edward, his eyes still boring into her but no emotion was expressed. Staring him dead in the eye, she recounted a collision. "In this universe, I was going to be hit by a van, right? But you saved me..." There was a minuscule incline of Edward's head and Bella instantly felt better at his response. "Well, it happened in my universe as well, a couple weeks ago. You still saved me, my human Edward, but...well, he was... Human."

There was a sharp gasp from Esme and Bella looked at her, nodding. "His pelvis was crushed between the van and my truck. Broke his leg too..."

"Is he all right?" Esme asked, inexplicably caring for a version of Edward she never even knew existed.

Alice nodded. "We're not exactly sure why, but Carlisle thinks that the universe—God or whatever—assumed Edward was a vampire and when he was crushed by the van, it had made a mistake and tried to fix it. Edward healed completely in three days."

There was a terse pause in which the Cullens shared meaningful stares. Esme touched Carlisle's face, eyes searching him. It took him a moment to tear his attention away from Bella's shaking form. But when he shared that look with his wife, their uncertainty and concern poured between them, creating an understanding. Emmett was still studying Bella firmly with a solid furrowed brow. Rosalie was a near mirror image beside him, the only difference was the withering glare she leveled on the imposter's.

An even more tense moment was when Jasper took a step forward. Alice's eyes darted to him and she nearly jumped, her hand gripping Bella's tighter. She watched him closely with wide eyes as he reached out toward her. Bella felt Alice hold the breath she didn't need to breath. Jasper's hand hesitated more than once until it lay atop the hand Alice was using to clutch Bella so tight.

The action was decisive and the mood instantly shifted. Alice gasped and took her free hand and gripped the top of Jasper's gratefully. He still remained silent and stiff, his eyes tight, but he held her hand before his family and that spoke louder than he ever could.

Rosalie's attention was suddenly turned to her brother. "Why?" she asked snidely.

There was no indication Jasper gave to Rosalie's question but when he opened his mouth to respond, it paused, jaw dropped as if he were contemplating it. His voice was strained. "It's unbearable," he whispered, "Their emotions. They must be genuine."

Rosalie frowned. "Who the hell knows who _or what_ they are! And what they _know _about us! Even you , Carlisle, can't claim to underst--" The word dropped in her throat when Carlisle raised his hand.

"There's nothing to understand, Rosalie. Somehow...these are our girls." Even as he said it, he gripped Esme's hand, in the back of his immense mind wondering what would happen if he were wrong.

Bella would have shared the wonder in which Alice gazed upon Jasper's understanding and acceptance if she could tear her eyes off of Edward. He still stood before her, eyes wide and his entire body tense, as if Jasper hadn't ever stepped forward.

"Edward..." she pleaded, almost silently.

And then he was gone. Bella gasped, blinking at just the wrong time, it was as if he ceased to exist in that moment. Granted, after all she'd experienced over the past few days, past few weeks, it wasn't a stretch. Immediately, her eyes welled up with tears as she fruitlessly looked around the room for him. Every Cullen was staring out into the forest behind the house. He had merely fled.

And Bella fell forward, folding over herself hopelessly. The entire world could believe her but for some reason, _her _entire world revolved around Edward's opinion. Suddenly, she missed her home more than anything else. She missed it before all the complications. Where what she had with her Edward was a casual attraction and a common curiosity—with the potential for more—before she was completely compelled to love him. Even then, she would take his awkward shuffling over this Edward's obstinate intensity.

A light hand came to Bella's shoulder. "Don't worry about him, dear." Esme smiled down on Bella, and the girl was again struck by the stranger. Never once had Carlisle mentioned the _real _reason as to why he'd wanted so bad the be in this dimension, but it was clear simply by staring into the face of his wife, in a room surrounded by his family.

"It isn't what you think..." Esme soothed quietly. "He isn't upset with you."

Bella didn't know what to think, the attitude in the room had changed so significantly. She was thrown for a loop. "Wh..what?"

Esme smiled again. "He's upset with himself...with the situation. Whether you are the Bella he thought you were, he still hurt you. It's something I don't think he'll ever forgive himself for."

Bella balked. "Well that's stupid." The plain confidence in that made Emmett smile widely. "I...I deceived him, all of you. I'm...not exactly sure why, but that's something he shouldn't be forgiving _me _for."

Even Rosalie was smiling as Esme laughed softly. "If that's how you understand Edward, then the Edward in your dimension must not have lived for a century."

Bella stared up at Esme silently. Then, after a thoughtful pause, she asked, "Can you read minds too?"

There wasn't a Cullen without a smile as Carlisle laughed loudly. Esme laughed again as well. "No, dear. But..." she paused and then finished, "A mother always knows."

Looking at Alice, Bella squeezed her hand before standing. "I'm going to go find him."

When she was halfway out the back door, she heard Jasper's controlled tones from behind her. "He may run from you."

That left Bella thoughtful as she walked toward the forest line. She wasn't sure what he'd meant, but at that point, she wasn't sure what anything meant. How had the evening gone so wrong yet so right? Her arm was still a little numb and her shoulder sore,but other than that, suddenly, this dimension knew of hers and no one needed to be hit by a van.

At that, Bella stopped. The little she knew about this dimension, she did know that what happened to Billy Black wasn't supposed to be. Carlisle wouldn't have told her Jacob that his father was alive if he'd seen his death in his dreams. So, she knew this dimension was also experiencing the clashes. But she was still at a loss as for what she was supposed to do with that information. A part of her knew she shouldn't tell this Jacob that his father wasn't really mean to be dead.

Bella's heart suddenly shuddered in her chest. The strange feeling made her stop again, forest floor crunching beneath her feet as she stopped. Her mind began to race on it's own, instantly thinking in overdrive about everything.

_You don't..._

Bella was watching herself dance with Edward, standing on his feet and her leg in a cast. Her head pounded, a feeling punching from the inside out.

_Belong!_

Bella saw herself sitting on a rock, Edward leaning over her with his lips hovering before hers.

_STOP!_

The muscles in her legs were spasming and Bella leaned with her back against a tree for support. Her back arched as she heaved for air. Suddenly, the forest was dark and she was in a room full of mirrors. Then James Witherdale was there, pale and dirty, a video camera clutched in his hand. His grin turned her stomach and when she caught his gaze—blood red and pulsing with desire.

_Let me OUT!_

And her hand burned, scalding and throbbing with her increased heartbeat. Cold hands suddenly took her face and it was as if she were woken from the deepest sort of hibernation. She gasped, her lungs exploding with shockingly cold air. Opening the eyes she wasn't aware she'd closed, she stared in to the eyes of Edward Cullen, gold and worried.

Catching her breath, Bella realized that her hand still burned. She lifted it to look at it past Edward's head. For the barest moment she could have sworn she'd seen the scar from her dreams, the scar that Edward found missing.

But it was gone and all she felt was Edward's cold hand on her neck, cradling her head. She was confused but sheepish.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I came to find you..." Bella smiled weakly, her legs barely holding her weight. "Guess you found me..."

Edward didn't speak and as silent seconds turned to minutes, his hands slowly slid from her face to her neck then to her shoulders and slowly down her arms as he dropped his hands.

"I guess I did."

Bella's eyes were wide, completely unsure what she was supposed to do. All she could think to say was, "I'm sorry. I should have told you." They were going to ignore the state in which he'd found her. Their lives were suddenly too complicated for anything more.

Edward wasn't watching her as he sat down on a fallen tree nearby. "Yeah, you should have."

Bella grimaced. "I was so scared. The only vampire I'd ever seen was Carlisle and _my _Edward is...well... quite different from you. I sort of panicked. And then with Billy and Jacob... I just got caught up in it."

His eyes narrowed at her. "Like it was some sort of _game_?"

Bella moved forward urgently. "_No!_ It was..." She settled down next to him. "I...well I don't know what it was."

His face set firmly. "It's over. We just need to fix things."

Bella smiled wearily. "That's something we can agree on." Her smile faded as her back burned like she was being watched.

She wiped around. It was the same feeling she'd felt at Carlisle's, before she fell into DX. Her hand gripped Edward's forearm and he looked at her sharply. The finger she held to her lips nearly made him smile because he knew anything that she needed to worry about could already hear her heart.

But he followed her gaze anyways. Her eyes had narrowed and were darting in the brush.

"Is anything there?" she hushed. Letting his senses take over, he inhaled.

His mouth dropped as if he were to speak, but then his jaw snapped shut decisively as he listened closer.

"There's...there's a heartbeat. A strange heartbeat...and the smell is nothing I've ever experienced,"

Bella stood up, heading toward the feeling. Someone was watching them. _Something_ was watching them. Her Edward had mentioned it too. And it had to have something to do with the dimensions. It just had to.

Edward was standing beside her then, until his eyes widened in shock. "We need to go back to the house."

Nearly gasping at his sudden voice, she hissed, "What is it?"

His hand was holding hers as he forced her along with him. "Alice. Something's wrong with Alice." And Bella was then running next to him. Before she could take two steps beside him, she was on his back and he was running. It was the exact feeling from her very first dream but before she could enjoy it or hate it, they were back at the house.

Never breaking stride, they threw themselves into the living room. Bella let out a choked scream when she saw Alice on the floor, convulsing and gasping for the air her body didn't need.

"What happened?" Edward demanded of Carlisle who was knelt beside her.

He looked up, brow furrowed and his amber eyes worried. "I...I don't know."

There must have been a sound only the vampires heard because there was a collective gasp as all the Cullens tore their gazes to look at Alice still shaking on the floor, her eyes rolled back into her head. Desperately trying to see, trying to hear, what they did, Bella came forward. Nothing could happen to Alice, to her Alice, _nothing._

And then Bella saw it. The methodic jump at Alice's jugular. Esme shared an unfathomable look with Carlisle. But all Bella could watch was that little jump, the little beat, beat, beat in Alice's neck.

Alice's heart was beating.

* * *

Anyone catch those extremely subtle hints that Alice wasn't normal? Yeah, they were REALLY subtle because at first I wasn't sure if I wanted her to be DX Alice or the Alice from my own dimension.

Well, another chapter down, yet still overdue.

Don't forget to voice for String Theory in the Indies!

I won't be writing for at least a week because I'll be spending it in San Diego. Tomorrow me and some friends take off on my first roadtrip all the way south for the one and only Comic-Con! It's going to be amazing! :DDD And then after that I have college orientation, an exciting week is ahead of me!


	18. Chapter 18

Bella let out a strange noise that would have embarrassed her in retrospect and without thinking dropped to her knees and crawled to Alice's side. In a right mind, she would have done that differently, but no one had claimed she was in the right mind.

Her eyes didn't leave that spot on Alice jugular. Alice was alive and she had absolutely no idea what that meant.

"What does this mean, Bella?" Carlisle hissed, absolutely terrified.

"I don't know!" She shrieked. Carlisle wasn't in control? He didn't know what to do? The genuine tension in his voice, like a piano chord struck and ready to snap, single handedly shoved Bella to some sort of point of no return.

No one dared to touch Alice and everyone wanted to. Edward dropped down beside Bella, his face set and his eyes wide. All Bella could do was watch that little jump in Alice's jugular, the only evidence that something wasn't right. Or was it right-- was this merely Bella's Alice restoring herself? Nothing fit, nothing made sense and Bella was rocking back and forth needlessly. A firm arm held Bella around her waist, effectively stopping her rocking and pressing her into a cooled form. She didn't spare a glance at Edward as he held her but let it calm her, if only minutely.

Rosalie shoved herself to Alice's side, hands grasping for her sister, fingers flexing to make up for the fact that she couldn't touch her. "_Will someone just friggin tell me if this is good or bad?!_" Her voice was as frantic as everyone felt.

"I don't know. I just don't _know._" Bella muttered lowly to herself, Edward's firm grip not able to still her trembling.

Carlisle took a deep breath and let his eyes close. He was knelt at Alice's head, his knees placed on either side of her head. He leaned forward very slowly, his hands leading him down, all as if he were ready to scoop a skittish, injured bird into his palms.

When Carlisle spoke, his tone was much different. He had centered himself, anchoring himself back down to earth and retook his seat at the head of the Cullen family. He needed to be strong as it was obvious that his family was having their own issues.

"She could very well be perfectly fine..." Though despite his tone, Bella could tell he was trying to persuade himself as he persuaded his frantic family. "This could be the other Alice's body settling into our universe." He firmly cupped the sides of her face, as a reminder that she was still there. "This...this could just be a hiccup between the universes—not unlike the other Edward's strange healing."

His calm words drifted around the room. Bella breathed a little deeper, a little softer but her knuckles remained white as she wrung her hands. She was leaning heavily into Edward's side and was only partially aware of it and that part decidedly ignored how good it felt to be held so urgently.

In all this time, Bella hadn't looked anywhere but Alice's face and that little jump in her neck. Her eyes strained to see it and if she blinked, she might lose it. The pained noise made across from her made Bella look up. Jasper sat on the other side of Alice, eyes wide and set on his wife's face. There was this sort of despair that Bella had never seen before in his eyes. Not completely unlike the look she'd seen in Jacob's eyes. It was a despair set in disbelief that told Bella there was nothing but "what if's" and "how will I's" streaming through Jasper's mind. What if she doesn't make it? How will I survive without her?

"Stop it, Jasper. You can't think like that." Edward chided firmly. But there was a break in his voice that told Bella maybe Edward wasn't thinking very differently from his brother. His cold fingers clutched at Bella's shirt.

What if the heartbeat stopped? Was it stopping to revert back into vampire Alice? Or did it mean that Alice was human and dying as ultimately as any other human? Bella couldn't be sure, but a terrible part within her had already decided. The universe was fixing its mistakes. And the universe can be wrong. Edward should have been paralyzed by his car accident—that's what Nature had intended. But somehow, Nature and Fate and God were all mixed up in this and none knew which way was up.

Or maybe Nature had intended Bella to be crushed by the van. Maybe God had planned for that day to be Bella's last. _What if_ that van had killed Bella? Would any of this be happening? Edward wouldn't have gotten hurt. Despite being such a separate even, Bella couldn't help but wonder if Billy would have died. Jacob would be completely free of her heartless toiling with his emotions and perhaps Renee would be free of her obligation to slowly ruining her own heart along with Charlie's. Bella wasn't stupid enough to think her family and friends wouldn't miss her. That's what happens when people die. And maybe Bella was just stupid enough to believe that the world would have been better for it.

An even more selfish part of her may have been happy to have died then, to spare the world—these universes—the insanely confusing and disorienting experiences that were currently sending these innocent lives astray. Then that would have aided the world exponentially more than if she were alive—as she was now—alive and breathing to screw something else up. Bella's throat closed around her thoughts and she made a choking noise. In response, Edward's hand came up to her shoulder to grip her closer. Neither of them took their eyes off of Alice but Edward wrapped his other arm around to grip the back of her head, pull her closer to his silent heart. The crook of his elbow cupped under her chin and the position made it so tempting to bury her face into his solid chest and try to forget everything. But she couldn't.

Jasper gasped.

Tearing her eyes away from Alice's heartbeat, Bella looked at him with Alice's hand clutched between his own. He pressed the back of her hand to his face then kissed her palm. It would have been a touching moment if not for his amber eyes cranked as wide as they would go. He dropped her hand as if he were burned and clapped his hands against his mouth. He fell backwards in the force of his movement but instead of righting himself, he scrambled backward, putting as much space between him and Alice as possible.

Between his fingers, he hissed something that Bella couldn't hear. She looked desperately at Edward and without looking at her, he said. "She's warm."

Bella's mouth dropped as she reached forward tentatively. Dragging a single finger down Alice's arm, she was amazed as the flesh depressed under her touch, lightening paler then flushing back leaving a trail of where the finger was for a fraction of a second. Unable to stop herself, Bella leaned forward out of Edward's grip and laid her head on Alice's chest. There she not only heard, but felt the bump of Alice's heartbeat. For a moment it seems she could hear the blood rushing through veins that hadn't felt it in decades.

Then Bella felt as if she were punched in the head. She gasped but when she opened her eyes, she the chest she rested against wasn't Alice's, but Edward—though Alice's heartbeat thumped in the back of her mind, over and over endlessly. Looking up at his face, relaxed with a small smiled and his eyes shut as sun caressed his glittering skin. _What do you want with me?_ This time the voice was quiet, almost defeated—nothing like the indignant anger she heard in the forest.

Nothing, Bella thought unconsciously, I just can't get out.

The pain in her head stabbed again. _I just want my life back. _Edward was running his cool hands through her hair. His lips were moving but no sound was heard but Alice's heartbeat, still there. Opening her eyes wider, Bella noticed she and Edward were in the same clearing where they shared their first kiss. No. That's not what happened with this Edward, that kiss was a world apart from here, literally.

So do I, Bella murmured silently, I want my life back? But then again, Edward's cool and sure hands were together an unbelievable feeling. Blinking to herself, Bella wasn't in the clearing and her head had stopped its spinning. She was in the Cullen's silent living room, listening to Alice's heart. Yes, the Cullen's silent, silent living room.

There was a vicious hiss. Esme screamed. "Bella, _move!_" She almost didn't register Edward's command and her body was limp as he tore her from Alice's silent, silent form. Bella felt herself slack jawed like a dull fish as Edward crushed her in an embrace, pulling away from Alice at a breakneck pace. "For the love of _God, hold her BACK!_" Edward bellowed, rolling over on top of Bella. Still frozen in shock, Bella could see over the shoulder her face was pressed into a sight that made her heart skip three beats.

Alice was dead. The lack of her heartbeat in Bella's ear made the room echo in false silence, despite the commotion that ensued. Jasper held Alice back with his arm locked around her neck from behind. Faintly, Bella heard him grunt, "I'm not strong enough."

In response, Emmett and Carlisle took one of Alice's arms, cementing her to the spot against Jasper. She thrashed against them, literally drooling as she hissed incoherently. Her eyes were a muddy brown—the amber iris contaminated with the blood that her veins were now full of.

"Get her out of here, you idiot!" Rosalie screeched as she and Esme put themselves between Bella and Alice.

Edward effortlessly scooped Bella up, something she was glad for because she didn't suspect her wobbly legs would hold her at that point. And Edward ran, ran for a long time. It was probably farther than he'd needed to go, if he thought about it, but he was shaken and Bella was trembling in his arms. He didn't even think to put her on his back, merely pulling her tight against his chest.

Then he stopped, deep in the forest and far from the Cullen home. Bella's breathing had evened but she still shook from shock. Edward looked down at her, standing surrounded by thick and green brush.

"What…what happened?" Bella needed to hear it.

Edward dropped, sitting on a large rock and setting her on his lap and sighing. "Alice's heart stopped and…for whatever reason, she's a vampire again."

"Whose is she, do you think?" She hated to think their Alice was that out of control but also hated to think the Alice she saw thrashing against the Cullens' hold was the Alice she knew at home.

At first, Edward didn't understand the question. Then, slowly, he answered, "It's hard to say. I didn't know Alice when she was a newborn. She was fully adjusted by the time she came to Carlisle."

Bella paused, letting her legs relaxed, her feet brushing the ferns surrounding the rock they sat on. "I…I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

Edward stared down at her for a moment before answering. "A newborn vampire is a lot stronger than an adjusted one. They're feeding off the blood that is still fresh in their veins, creating a much stronger thirst for blood and giving a temporary strength that is greater than an older vampire. Since Alice somehow had a heart pumping blood, when she returned to being a vampire, it mimicked the thirst of being newborn. A newborn is…expected to be different from their normal demeanor." He didn't want to tell her that newborns are usually excused of killing because he couldn't bring himself say it.

"How long will it last?"

Edward shrugged. "There's no way of knowing. It takes about a year for a true newborn to work through their former self's blood supply. But we don't know how much blood actually ended up in Alice's system. We just have to wait."

Bella was quiet for a long moment. "I…I'm so sorry. For everything. I know doesn't change anything but—"

"Shh…" Edward pressed a finger to her mouth silencing her. "This is all out of our control."

Bella sighed. "I can't help but think how this would be different if my Edward had never saved me from that damn van."

Suddenly, a strong finger forcefully jerked her chin up so her eyes would meet his firm amber ones. "Don't you even think like that."

Bella's mouth dropped to answer, to defend herself or protest, she didn't know. It didn't matter because she no words came as she got lost in his eyes. Her breath came out hot on his face and he had to keep his eyes from falling shut.

Changing the subject, his tone dropped. "How long… how long have you been here?"

At that, Bella averted her eyes. "Not long… that night we were watching the game with Charlie. When I asked you if you where hungry. Somehow I fell into place then."

"So… this morning…" He almost looked embarrassed. Bella covered her face.

"Yeah, all me. Sorry…" She peaked at him through her fingers when he laughed. His hand was very comfortably pressed into the small of her back.

"And here I thought my Bella was just being stupid and bold."

"Really, I am sorry, Edward." Bella sat forward, neither of them deciding to find her another place to sit other than his lap. "I was abusing my place—I was taking advantage of the situation." She dropped her head.

After a pause, Edward spoke quietly. "What is your Edward like?"

Thinking about it, Bella smiled smally to herself. "He's…well, he's nowhere near as sure of himself as you are. He's smart, but a little awkward. He keeps mostly to himself. I didn't even know him until all of this trouble started." She stopped and thought before saying, "It was nice to be here with you. At least here I know how you feel about me. I really like Edward at home, but there is no way for either of us to know if those feelings are real or if it's just the universe fucking with us."

Edward laughed softly again and Bella looked up at him. The stared at one another for a moment, content in the silence. It was as if his soft, hollow breaths were drawing her in, closer until he could feel the electricity off of her lips. Edward found himself staring at her flushed lips, so familiar to him.

Bella felt her eyelids grow heavy. Sluggishly, she muttered, "I can feel her in my head."

Edward jerked away. "What?"

Bella was snapped out of whatever trance they'd been caught in before blushing. He always enjoyed the sight of blood rushing to her face. "I think can feel your Bella inside me. It's like she's stuck, fighting to get out."

"Was that what was happening when I found you in the forest?"

She nodded. "I..I even think I saw that scar." Lifting her hand, Bella brushed the very tips of her fingers over her palm. She looked up at Edward imploringly. "What is it from?"

Edward looked at her, his expression somewhere near shock. "You…you don't know?"

She shook her head. "Does it have something to do with James Witherdale?"

The sound of his name made Edward's face harden. "I didn't know he had a last name."

Bella looked at her hands. "In my… at home there is a James. And I won't say he's the most favorable fellow. But I've never thought he was _dangerous_. I'm…I'm just curious."

Edward looked over her head, his face set angrily. "He was a tracker vampire. When we met him, I tried to protect you and that made you a challenge. Your life became a game to him."

Bella looked up at him, feeling like a naïve kid listening to ghost stories. Her voice was small, "What…what happened?"

Edward let out an angry huff. "He tricked you--All of us. Got you alone and started messing with you—like a cat with a mouse. He filmed the whole thing. When we finally showed up, he still had the upper hand… He… he bit you Bella."

She couldn't stop her little gasp despite the fact she barely knew what that meant. Edward let his eyes fall shut; either to see his memories or stop the visions from coming, she didn't know.

"Alice tore his head off…and I had to suck his venom from your veins."

"You had to suck my....my blood?"

Edward inhaled sharply and then answered through gritted teeth, "Yes. I…I almost didn't stop. Afterwards…I'd never felt more like the monster I really am."

Bella frowned. She gripped both sides of his face and forced him to look at her in the eye. "You are not a monster, Edward Masen. Of all the things I've learned from this universe, that was the first."

He stared at her. "You called me Masen."

Bella blinked. "Well, that's your name isn't it?"

Edward shut his mouth before a response formed. Even with talk of his most deplorable moment, he'd never felt more like his human self, or what he remembered of it. Without thinking, he took Bella's face and kissed her firmly. Bella jerked in surprise, slipping off of Edward's lap. He caught her effortlessly and kissed her even more urgently, rearranging her so she was straddling his waist.

Bella was swept up in his kiss and embrace, her hands winding around his neck and fingers sliding into his hair. He pulled his lips of hers to let her breathe. They hinged at their foreheads, noses pressed together intimately. Her breath was hot on his face.

Pursuing him, Bella kissed him almost desperately, wanting so badly to feel good in the never ending uncertainty her life had become. She could see more and more of her own Edward in this one and she wanted every inch of her connected with him.

Taking another breath she looked him in the eye, still caught in the moment. "Edward…I lov." And she stopped. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was ready to admit out loud. He must have realized the same as he swallowed uncertainly. Then, she continued in a different, softer tone. "This isn't right. I'm not the right person. We shouldn't do this."

He breathed to speak but before he could his head shot up, his brow furrowing incredulously. "We can't be--"

Before he could finish, a voice cut through the trees. "Cullen."

Edward looked around as if he just woken up, eyes shooting to a high branch on a tree yards from them. "Uley."

There was a thump behind Bella as she struggled to get off of Edward's lap in embarrassment. She was standing next to Edward, a hand still on his shoulder and his arm still partially wrapped around her waist when she saw who was coming toward them.

"Sam…" she breathed.

Sam Uley looked like a different man. He was just as tall and strong as the Sam she'd only seen a few times in her own universe, but he looked much less foreboding. He was shirtless but the line of his broad shoulders wasn't deformed by poorly healed bones. His hair was clean and cropped close to his head.

"What do you think you're doing, Cullen?" He almost sounded amused but the severity of his gaze told Bella different.

"We're not on your land, Uley," was Edward's response.

Sam frowned. "The treaty line is thirty feet _that _way," he said plainly as he pointed in the direction Bella and Edward had came. "Guess whose side you're on."

Edward looked angry but flustered. How had he missed that? And how hadn't he heard or _smelled_ Sam's approach. He'd been too caught up in Bella, but that wasn't any excuse. He gripped her closer to him. "I…it was a mistake. We'll leave." He stood and Sam shot forward. Bella made a little noise when suddenly she was between the two, Edward with his teeth bared and Sam snarling in a way that was more convincing than any dogs she'd ever seen.

"Let's say I believe you _forgot_ the land line that's been in place for decades, leech. Well, _you _can go. _I'll _take her home." Same insisted and Bella realized he had a hold on her arm. She shrunk between the two.

"I am more than capable. She's perfectly safe with me." Edward looked down his nose at Sam.

Sam snorted like a dog. "So you say. It doesn't matter, you're on my land and my word goes."

Bella laughed weakling, a hand on each of their chests. "Uh… I can find my own way home if that makes anything better." She pushed them apart and she'd be exaggerating she said if either of them moved an inch. She tried to keep her tone light as she made to walk away from them. "He he, anyone want to point me in the general direction of Forks…?"

It took the boys both a second to realize she had spoken. They relaxed minutely. While Sam still looked severe, Edward almost smiled at her, eyes amused.

"Really, no need to fight… I can't get home on my—age!" Bella doubled over, gripping her wrist as her palm burst into searing pain. Edward called her name and the last thing she saw before her eyes squeezed shut was him rushing to her side, but it was all fuzzy compared to the burning in her hand.

_I'm sorry. You need to go back to where you belong._ As Bella clutched her hand to her body, her free hand went to her head as it pounded. Then the world was swimming around her and she felt as if she were plunged into ice water as she landed on an unforgiving surface. Hot tears ran down her face as the pain reached its peak.

And then it was gone. Before she could even think to be relieved, the beautiful silence of that moment was broken. Edward was calling her name. Shutting her eyes tighter, wishing for her head to stop spinning, she pressed her hand to her face as if it would hold off the return of her pounding headache.

She was on the ground, but it wasn't the brush of the forest she'd just been in. It was a lush and pale white carpet. Opening her eyes slowly, Edward's face swam into view. She smiled a little to herself.

"Edward…" she sighed. Jacob was there, float behind Edward's head with the same worried stared that Edward was giving her.

"Bella, oh god, is that really you?" A warm hand cupped her face. It had to be Jacob's because Edward's was supposed to be cold and solid.

"Who else would it be?" She muttered, irritated, and with her eyes still half closed.

Edward laughed stupidly and dropped closer to her face. When Bella focused on his face, she cocked her head to the side. Something wasn't right but she wasn't coherent enough to know what.

Then Edward's glasses fell off of his face and hit her square in the nose. She was home.

* * *

AND I've crawled back onto the face of the earth and bring you another long overdue chapter. I struggled to write the first 500 words of this chapter and was really scared it wasn't going to be one that was worth the wait. But I think this chapter has a fighting chance--it's a decent length, nice and exciting, we have a couple of breakthroughs and even a (sorta) new character.

This story WILL end, I promise you. But I just can't give you an end date. Hm, maybe I should to make myself work harder--but I honestly don't know how much will go into coming to my conclusion. I've got an old Stats journal from high school with my notes on what to do with story. If anyone who didn't know what I was writing would probably think I was crazy by what my notes say. So even though I've got direction, I often surprise myself on how much I put into certain events that I originally thought would have been an easy in-out. Like Alice's little fazing between the two dimensions-- I thought that's be a fairly quick interlude but ended up stretching to over 1,000 words in itself.

I can't seem to express enough how much all you readers mean to me. And have faith (even if I haven't really given you a reason to)--this story will end. At the end of this week, I go to college--yet another thing to get in the way of my writing, I apologize.

OH and...so I did go to the little Twilighted authors' panel at Comic-Con, if anyone went. I was actually sorta surprised when I found it in the program guide. But I was too shy to say anything to any of the panelists afterwards. It was an interesting experience, though.


	19. Chapter 19

A little treat of an quick new chapter for sticking with me through my like 6 month rough spot. Remember, it's a _treat_, can't assure that I'll keep the pace up xD

But hot damn it finally feels like I've got my _fire _back :DDD

* * *

Little rocks clicked against Bella's window for twenty minutes but their call went unheeded. Bella was exhausted by the supernatural and emotional and the comfort of her very own bed was too much to turn down. She was asleep like a log the moment her head touched the pillow.

The downside was she slept so deeply, her wakeup call wasn't nearly as pleasant as her rest. All the air was compressed from her lungs as an unceremonious weight bore down on her chest. Arms crushed beneath her body and her eyes popped open as she gasped for some much needed air.

"Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey," a voice sang teasingly at her.

"Jacob!" Bella shrieked, squirming the sleep out of her bones.

"What, you're not awake _yet_? Guess I'll just get comfortable…" Jacob sighed as he laid back, stretching down across her back with the length of his body weighing her down further. Making a noise of relaxation, he let his hands hold his head, his hair falling down into Bella's face.

With some exaggerated huffing, blowing his hair away, Bella let out a howl and threw all her strength and weight. Caught off balance and off guard, Jacob was hurled to the edge of the bed.

"_Now _she's awake." Jacob huffed, gripping the bed sheet with the tips of his fingers. Sitting up and staring at his unbalanced form on the edge of the bed, she then gave him a vindictive shove on the shoulder, sending him to the floor. From the carpet she heard a shadow of a sound that sound suspiciously like "bitch".

Smiling sweetly at her brother, she held a hand out to him. His hand was strong in hers though they both knew the last thing he needed was help up onto the bed. They stared peacefully at each other—Bella sitting cross-legged in the corner of the bed by her pillow, hair mussed and the comforter still twisted around her and Jacob only half on the bed, fully dressed and ready for the day.

Their gaze cracked with tension and then Jacob's arms were locked around her shoulders and her nose was buried in the crook of his neck. Once they were in place, neither moved or took a breath. It was a fragile moment, different from the one shared after he scooped her off the Cullen carpet and crushed her bones with a raucous laugh before Bella could blink. This was private. Then it had been the sheer disbelief that everything had righted itself when it seemed things would continue take left turns. Then Bella was overwhelmed by the noise and the number of people all wanting to touch her--hear her speak--just to assure she was the real thing. Now, after reality had sunk in, this was private.

After nearly a minute (before either of them realized their muscles nearly ached) Jacob finally breathed a shaky breath flat against her ear. "I thought I'd lost you."

Bella's throat closed and she hiccupped. Jacob wasn't convinced that _his_ Bella would ever make it back to the right dimension. She'd thought about that on the ride home from Carlisle's the night before, wondering why she hadn't thought more about that. Bella concluded that her experience in Dimension X was more of a survival game than anything else. She couldn't afford to think about becoming accustomed to life there because maybe it would have to make do for home—accepting idea might have crippled her.

"I'm here, Jake. I'm _really _here," Bella nearly hissed back her voice was so ragged.

After a pause, Jacob muttered, "For how long?"

Bella sucked in a startled breath and choked on it. She pulled away from Jacob minutely, just far enough to look him in the eye. This was not something Bella had even thought to consider. Why _hadn't _she thought of that? Panic shot through her. Would she have to undergo that again? Well, at least there was no hiding it from the other dimension and no need; but what about everyone else? What if Jacob fell? None of the Quileutes knew of what was going on—would he have to hide it as well? And Bella wasn't sure—even having been through it before—if she could watch someone go through what she did.

As Jacob and Bella kept a gaze between them, Jacob squeezed her reassuringly. He knew he shouldn't have said anything. He needed to be strong for Bella but he couldn't help the insecurity from rearing its head before he regained control over it.

The panic ran dry in Bella and her face set suddenly in resolve. "We're gunna set this right, Jacob."

He smiled softly and he hoped it wasn't as scared as he actually felt. "Yeah."

After a second, Bella had Jacob at arm's length as realization took her. "Shit, school!" She _had_ to have slept late and she wasn't exactly in a rush. And then she relaxed. "Ah, fuck it."

Jacob laughed.

When he left her to dress, Bella didn't get out of bed right away. She sat there, letting her legs luxuriate in what was left of her sleep heat in the comforter before the chill of the morning set into her sheets. Wrapping the end of the blanket around her shoulders to keep the warmth in, Bella let her head fall back against the wall with a soft thump. She didn't know what time it was but Charlie and Renee should have been long gone for the day, so she wasn't worried.

The entirety of the past two days had been thoroughly exhausting—Bella decided she would have felt more rested had she been hit by a bus. She then struck that image from her mind when the memory of Tyler's van screeching toward her came up. And really, it had barely even been two days.

Bella had fallen from her own dimension late Sunday morning, but didn't land in Dimension X until Sunday early evening. Billy died that same night. Bella spend the next morning with Edward and the rest of midday with Jacob. It was that second evening that all the real trouble started.

Thinking back, Bella realized, that everything—the confrontation with Edward, explaining herself, chasing after him, and going back to the Cullen house to find Alice alive—had all happened on only her second night in DX and lasted all the way to her second morning. She never noticed the morning dew on the grass or the chilling fog in the trees when Sam found them that morning. But she wasn't exactly in her right mind. She awoke in her own dimension on Tuesday afternoon. Bella had found afterwards that time seemed to move similarly in both dimensions, hour by hour, but the time of the year wasn't the same. Though Bella couldn't tell what time of year it was in Dimension X, she did understand while in her own dimension it was the middle of the school year and in the other, the kids weren't in school at the time.

When she awoke, she had been caught up in the joy of everyone in Carlisle's living room. Carlisle had then sat Bella down—Jacob firmly at one side and Edward trying to be nonchalant and an appropriate distance away on her other—and explained things in a calm and soothing tone. Despite assuring her how scared everyone had been for her, she couldn't ignore the excitement burning in Carlisle's amber eyes. Maybe she should have felt affronted at his blatant enthusiasm for her misfortune because it meant advancement in his studies, but it only reminded Bella that this was _her _Carlisle.

Embry and Quil had been there, grinning like fools. When walking with them to her truck to bring them back to the reservation, Embry hinted at how they'd spent nearly the entire time she was gone by Jacob's side. When she'd fallen under, they didn't feel it smart to leave Jacob alone. At the time, Bella had stared at Jacob, bounding a head of them to the truck, and felt terrible for putting him through the heartache but because it wasn't as if she could have done anything to help it, she settled for being heart warmed that he cared so much. But she'd known that all along.

The other Bella had been here, in her life and in her home. Bella had to force herself to not be scandalized or feel threatened by a stranger (sort of) living her life, even if it were only for a short while, because she'd been doing the very same thing. Though she was sure that the _other_ Bella had been much better off in this dimension.

Jacob had told her, eager and laughing, about when the other Bella had woken up. She was completely surrounded by a room full of people she knew but innately knew they weren't the _right_ people. Jacob had enjoyed mimicking the face the other Bella had made; one he lovingly said looked something like what it would be if one could smell constipation. It was obvious that both Bellas had at first decided to hide the fact that they were different, only it was more comical for the other Bella to do so considering everyone_ knew _she didn't fit. Alice apparently fell in not long after Bella had. They were explaining everything to their new Bella when Alice suddenly hissed in pain. She was feeling the venom fill her veins and take her over.

Though Jasper hadn't been there when Bella woke up, Edward quietly explained how scared Jasper had been. Having the other Alice with them wasn't much different from the norm. She had taken everything in stride, her mind still as large as a vampire's to take in the news, while the other Bella sat tight lipped and pale. Her senses were overloaded by the feeling of the change and her mind was buzzing with an immense load of new information—so Bella didn't blame her other self for not being quite so open with this new universe.

So, Bella conceded as she dragged herself out of her cooling sheets, maybe the other Bella hadn't had it so easy. While she got a lesson in quantum physics, Bella thought with an ironic smile, I got put through the emotional wringer.

After explaining everything that happened during her stay in DX to a ravenous Carlisle, an extremely interested Edward and Jacob, and a strangely quiet Quil and Embry, they came to the conclusion that the other Bella never completely seated herself in this new universe. Jacob had frowned as he explained the times Bella would pass out—but really it was the other Bella drifting back toward her actual place. It was strange to think that every time while in DX when Bella heard voices in her head or was flooded with DX Bella's memories, or even every time she saw that damn scar, it meant that DX Bella was fighting for her life back.

At first, Carlisle had assured Jacob that it would be for the best (and perfectly safe) for Jacob to take the other Bella home with him to get her accustomed to it in case this ended up being a permanent deal. But whenever the universes collided, the other Bella passed out which freed whatever part of herself that let her contact her other self across universes the more Jacob had to deal with a seemingly lifeless Bella the more flustered Jacob got. Toward the end of the interlude, when the other Bella began to pass out more frequently, Jacob was getting panicky, Embry had explained. In the end, Jacob had told Charlie that he and Bella were going to spend the night at Jasper's and instead rushed over to Carlisle's for help and support. Quil and Embry were with him the whole time, but had felt just as helpless—all of them felt better to bring her to Carlisle for care.

Morning had come and the other Bella still hadn't woken from one of her fainting spells. That was when Jasper showed up with an apparently lifeless Alice in his arms. He described symptoms similar to Bella's but as soon as he was done explaining, Alice had begun to wake up.

Alice's experience, Bella mused with a frown, must have been much more painful than her own. Bella had only felt a taste of what vampire venom felt like in human veins, and it hadn't been pleasant, but it seemed that once the pain had ceased and Alice had firmly landed in the proper dimension, she was completely lucid. Jasper had taken Alice home for some much needed rest about half an hour before Bella started waking up.

It was really nice for Bella to run as slow as she liked that morning, easing into the clothes that she'd worn before and ambling down the hall with the extra door to the bathroom she shared with her brother. She smiled lazily to herself as she dragged her feet on the carpet, feeling a little better just because she knew that this carpet was _hers._ Bella smiled wider at her reflection when she got to the bathroom. This was her face in her mirror in her bathroom in her house in her god damn universe. Life was good.

After her teeth were brushed, Bella wandered downstairs to find Jacob sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal. He smiled and the milk in his mouth dribbled down out of the corners of his mouth. Bella snorted and shoved a dish rag in his face.

Wiping his face, he stood up from the table to lean over the sink next to Bella where she stood in front of the refrigerator. "So what's the plan for today?"

Bella smiled but didn't look at him. "We're still going to school, Jake."

"Aw! C'mon, you just phased between universes. Don't you deserve a day off?"

"I already missed two days this week," Bella scolded. She pulled the carton of orange juice out and set it on the table.

Jacob followed her as she crossed to the cabinet for a glass. "Hey, you don't think you had a good enough reason?"

Bella sighed as she poured her juice and sat down heavily at the table. "I just want to get back to my life Jake."

He didn't say anything as he sat down across from her. "Things are going to be different."

Bella raised her eyes from her glass to look at him blankly. "Thanks for the observation, Watson."

"I'm serious, Bella. You just told me that we're gunna set this right. Don't you think righting the universe is a lot more important than fucking third period?"

Bella's relaxation was slowly drifting away from her, leaving a little bit of that rushed panicky feeling she felt in DX. Letting out a huff, she dropped her eyes to the table. "Yeah…"

"Well then we should go to Carlisle today! I mean, I'm sure you didn't tell us _everything_ about your time there. You mentioned feeling watched—like Edward feels like he's being watched here too. That had to mean something. And Carlisle spent all that time researching our lives. Now he finally has a lead to work off of. We should be _doing_ something."

Bella dropped her forehead into her hand and massaged her temples, refusing to open her eyes for a second. "Is it so hard to imagine that I don't want to get all mixed up in that crap again? The leads will still be there tomorrow—and the day after that."

Jacob pushed back from the table roughly, his chair teetering in its spot, and paced around the table for a second. "Don't you get it, Bella?" She looked up at him sharply, slightly taken aback by his sudden seriousness in his tone. "I thought I'd _lost you_. And we have no fucking clue what or when something will happen again. Don't you think a little urgency is necessary here? Don't you think there will be time to relax with we're even allowed to _think_ the word normal?"

He saw her face drop sheepishly and changed angle, dropping to his knee beside her and taking her shoulders. His face had lost the set and angry expression and his eyes pleaded with her. "I know you deserve a little time to breathe but I'd be really nice to know that you understand where I'm coming from here."

Bella put her hand over his on her shoulder. "I do, Jake, I really do." She paused. "It's…just a lot to take process. I'm not a genius—none of us are. I know it's childish and selfish, but a part of me really wants to believe that it doesn't have to be up to us to fix the fucking world."

They shared a long silence in which they understood each other completely. Then, with a last squeeze to her shoulders acting as the punctuation to that conversation, Jacob looked affronted. "So you don't think I'm a genius?"

Bella laughed, the tension melting out of her, as she stood to put the orange juice away. Jacob stood up after her. "Really, I mean it. I thought I was, ya know, pretty on top of the whole A through G stuff…"

She laughed again before pinning him with a look that quelled his jokes. "Get your stuff, we're leaving in five."

Just then the front door opened and slammed and the front wall shook. Charlie stood in the foyer. Turning to them, his eyes widened in surprise. "Kids!"

Jacob jumped and looked guilty. "Dad!" Bella cried out with a nervous laugh.

Fortunately, Charlie was in high spirits. He was pulling off his gloves as he joined them in the kitchen. Bella bustled around the kitchen as if she were doing something important. With that same nervous laugh, she put her glass in the sink. "I thought you'd already gone in to work."

Unable to wipe the grin off his face, Charlie swung the refrigerator door open wide and pulled out a beer despite the hour of morning. "We solved the Newton case!" he cried as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. His grin faltered a little sheepishly. "Well, sorta. The team got a call from Karen—Karen Newton, that's the one," he added as if they didn't know, "and said everything was back to normal this morning. And I mean _everything_. They were holding off on fixing the front window; apparently with all the property destroyed they couldn't afford much more than the plastic covering the nice big hole. But anyway, wouldn't ya know, Mike went up to the store this morning and everything was good as new—the window too."

Bella smiled genuinely. "That's awesome!"

Charlie was just as enthused. He took a long swig of his beer and then said, "The best part is, they actually _made_ money on it. Somehow all the merchandise damaged was replaced—whoever did it piled all the new stuff up in the center of the store, couldn't miss it!—and because of the insurance money coming in and the fact that they don't have to pay for the window, they're actually pretty well into the green as it goes!"

Jacob had ducked out of the kitchen while Charlie explained and came back right then with both his and Bella's backpack. "That's great, Charlie." He tossed Bella's bag to her. "Don't you think we should hit the road, Bells?"

She was already halfway out the kitchen, nodding hastily as she went. She reached for the truck keys on the hook but found them gone, only to see Jacob dangling them from his finger teasingly. Snatching them from him, Bella waved to Charlie. "That's great news, Dad. We gotta go, see you tonight!"

He waved back in a daze before his brow furrowed, as if it were the first time he'd actually focused on them since he'd come in. "Hey, aren't you guys gunna be late?"

Bella was already out of the house and Jacob simply called out a bye as he slammed the door. They laughed as they hopped into the truck and took off as fast as the truck would let them—which wasn't that fast, honestly. Checking her watch, Bella was surprised to find it was just past 10:00 and they weren't as late as she'd originally assumed.

The car ride was quiet but Jacob did grumble as he looked out the window. "Still don't think we need to go to school."

Bella only smirk wordlessly in response. But to herself, Bella did have to concede to what Jacob had said earlier. Despite her childish desires, they couldn't just ignore the problem. And she obviously _hadn't_ told everyone everything that happened while she was in DX. She'd certainly left out some of her alone time with Edward and her ridiculous jealously when she first met Esme. Actually, she'd left Esme out all together. She'd told everyone that the other Edward confronted her about her strange behavior without provocation and was simply holding her hand when he realized she didn't have James's scar—which was mostly true.

She figured if Carlisle felt the need to keep her a secret, then she shouldn't betray that to everyone else. And apparently the other Bella didn't do much talking about her own dimension as she spent most of her time unbelievably uncomfortable. It hadn't been easy, but before she left Carlisle's the night before, she was able to sneak some time alone with him. Carlisle smiled a little sheepishly and a little sadly when she mentioned her name.

"I should have said something," he had conceded. "But…I knew it was selfish for me to want the other dimension so I could be with her. I just…I just didn't want you all to think less of me."

Bella had almost laughed and fortunately had been able to help herself. "Don't be silly, Carlisle. To be honest, I thought it was strange when I couldn't find an obvious reason for you to want to be there. I mean… wanting family is one thing. Esme…" she had paused thoughtfully. "Well, Esme is something entirely different."

Carlisle had hugged her then and she welcomed the sheer affection, despite the fact that she had been overcome by it moments after she'd woken up. She ignored the little part of herself that hugged him closer because it was nice to feel the cool and solid form beneath her again.

After signing into the office, Bella bid Jacob goodbye and went off to class. Even though she'd impressed going to school to Jacob, as she wandered the quiet hall and the closer she got to her classroom, the less she'd actually wanted to go. It was nice to be back in school. Coming home to her dimension made her look at everything twice. Was this what the _other_ school looked like? Did it have that same dent in the wall or chip in the paint. She'd slowed to barely moving as she examined the space around her leisurely. At the end of the hall ahead of her, another student passed by.

Heart stopping irresponsibly, Bella realized that it was Edward. Her Edward loping along with slouched shoulders and skewed glasses and a quiet look about him. Not that she could really tell any of these things from down the hall. Picking up her pace without thinking, Bella followed him instead of going the other direction to class. She caught the back end of him going into the single stalled bathroom designated for teachers. Just as she reached the door, she acknowledged that the little word about the handle still said "VACANT". He must have been in a rush to not have locked it.

Standing there awkwardly, Bella wondered what compelled her to come this far rather than just watch him walk away and then go to class. Frowning a bit, Bella did remember that she hadn't got to talk to him much since she'd gotten back. He sat quietly and listened to her story and didn't contribute much to the conversation. He'd seemed mildly embarrassed to listen to all the other Edward did, as if it were really his actions. And he didn't know the half of what Edward had done, Bella blushed to admit.

Face set with determination, Bella waited a few more seconds until she heard the toilet flush. Without pause, she knocked and then immediately opened the door, despite the fact that Edward was only halfway through his nervous little call of "Hold on!"

Bella slipped into the bathroom and shut the door right after herself, this time thinking to turn the little word to "OCCUPIED."

* * *

Oh, god it feels so good to really to a good flow again, it'd been so long since I'd really felt it. Hopefully the next dry spell is nice and comfortable far into future. I really feel like I've gotten that little bit of creativity back in my veins.

I understand that this chapter has huge potential for confusion—like writing a gay romance with unnamed characters—there's too many repeated titles, names in this case, but it's hard to avoid. I really did try to make sure and differentiate between this Bella and that Bella and here Edward and there Edward and I apologize if there was any confusion.

It was nice to have a relaxed chapter again. Yeah, there was still a little drama, but I love writing Jacob and Bella when they're goofing around. Really, I like writing them because they've got a really honest relationship. Not saying Edward and Bella's isn't honest—they just have the constant vampire/human tension.

I've officially got the rest of this story mapped out but until I'm writing I'll never know how many words it will take to fulfill a plot point. I mean, for my outline of this chapter, I had about nine plot points and now that the chapter is written, I only hit five of them—one in less than a sentence when I'd planned more than that, and the other only introduced. So I can't even give you an estimate of how long it will take to conclude this.

I kind of like the uncertainty.

Anyway, I'd love to see your reviews :D


	20. Chapter 20

Edward jumped about three feet into the air, making loud indiscernible noises of protest until his chin turned far enough over his shoulder to see it was Bella leaning against the back of the bathroom door, her hands still resting on the handle and lock with an amused smiled tugging on her lips. He stopped mid indignant shout and frowned, his cheeks burning and his glasses skewed on his face.

"Not like I haven't seen any of it before…" Bella muttered very quietly but it seemed to echo in the small bathroom.

Buttoning his pants, he continued to stare at her with a frown set into his flushed face as he went to the sink and washed his hands. She wasn't sure why he was frowning, perhaps because it was implied that he's lost all right to privacy because they'd had sex.

"I didn't mean to scare you or anything…" she started lamely. "I just…I feel like we should talk."

Edward seemed to be washing his hands rather diligently. The unhappy frown drifted somewhere to a nervous grimace. When he didn't respond, Bella took a tentative step forward and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. She could feel him tense, but he didn't make a move to push her away.

Bella didn't know what she wanted to talk about. Thinking back, perhaps they hadn't shared any real conversations—they'd been too caught up in the strange feelings coming in from the other universe. So Bella started at the first place she could think off.

"I don't regret that it happened, Edward." Her hand had slipped off his shoulder when he moved to pull out a paper towel. She backed up to give him some space before continuing. She leaned against the cool tiled wall and stared at the shiny floor. "I…I know I was really mean…after."

Feeling incredibly foolish, she forced herself to look up at him. Edward was smirking a little at his paper towel. She felt better. Spending time away from this Edward and…well not exactly being chaste with the other one, Bella felt a little dirty for the first time in her life.

After watching her parents suffer through years of regret and spite, Bella had made a silent vow to never regret anything she ever does with another person. It wasn't worth it, she found, and obviously it didn't really matter. There was no courting between her and James and the fact that he had a girlfriend didn't make her blink either. It didn't matter, none of it did. Whatever happened, happened and that's the most one could make of it.

She'd lived with this mentality for nearly a decade, learning quite young that relationships one commits herself to can be shams—elaborate masquerading lies—and even when there are other lives, like children or ex's or interfering _other_ significant others, because it all didn't really matter in the long run.

Perhaps that's why she fell into bed so quickly with Edward, even without the universal push, because they were young and stupid without kids to ignore or spouses to cheat on. They were allowed to do those things because it wasn't as if it really mattered.

But as she stared at him in the unisex bathroom as he in turn stated into his damp hands, she realized that it did matter. Edward mattered because he was a good person with a heart and feelings. Perhaps they weren't what an onlooker would consider romantically involved but what happened between them was much more than anything she'd ever felt with James.

With the excuse of the universal revamp on her side, Bella hadn't had to really think about her emotional connection to these people because she was never sure what her own emotion was and what belonged to the other Bella. But it seemed the irregularity was becoming their reality and having spent so many hours living the other Bella's life, this Bella was running out of excuses. She _knows_ what is her thought and emotion and what is alien.

But because of this sudden assurance in herself and her emotions, she now wasn't exactly sure how to deal with her own Edward.

Edward sighed, snapping Bella from her reverie, as he threw away the towel with his back to her. "I understand where you're coming from." He turned to look at her, eyes so full of something that they looked as if they were bound to overflow. He laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's not how I imagined my first time but…I don't regret it either."

Bella smiled as her heart lifted a little bit inexplicably. They stared at each other for a long moment until both of them decided to hit the wall behind them and slide all the way down to the floor. They didn't talk but were oddly at ease in the bathroom together. The hard tile floor and wall did need to be comfortable, they were used to discomfort in so many other ways.

Bella didn't ask about where Edward should be and Edward didn't ask about why Bella had been late to class. This was being at ease in their own universe, in their own skins. Sometimes Bella would just stare at the wall across from her, at the tile just next to Edward's head. Then she would catch his eye, staring at him through his glasses. She really liked his glasses, Bella decided.

"I never thought that I wouldn't ever come back…" she muttered. Edward's intense attention was on her in a second. Her heart jumped but she didn't show it. Her voice rose. "It never even crossed my mind. But I realized…This morning Jacob mentioned it." Suddenly, her throat constricted as the reality hit her. "Do you realize how scary that is?" Her voice cracked and he dropped his head.

She went on, terrified by her instant and delayed reaction. "I would have been stuck! I would have ever been able to see anyone ever again! I mean _really_ see anyone I love _ever again_! What would I do? Just assimilate? Never knowi—_never actually knowing_ if I'd ever be home again? I can't even _imagine that._"

Edward didn't look up. She couldn't see his eyes but she wasn't looking at him anyway because she was staring at the dirty bathroom ceiling, aghast. Edward dropped his mouth open and made a noise to intervene, but she stopped him. "I wouldn't ever see you again! Not you or Jacob or Dad or Mom. None of them would be the same." They were looking at each other again just as Bella through herself forward until she was staring at Edward desperately, wildly, as she leaned toward him on her hands and knees in the middle of the bathroom floor.

"And what now? Are we supposed to live like I won't fall again? As if _you _won't fall in? Because I don't think I could take it if you were lost to the other Edward. I couldn't. And am I supposed to live life as if I were normal? As if any of us were normal? As if I don't feel like someone is watching me from the forest and don't feel the presence of an alternate me in my head? Because I can't be normal—not anymore. I won't ever be able to live normally ever again— "

"Isabella."

Her eyes refocused and Edward was kneeling in front of her, much closer than he had been. His sharp word broke her incoming hysteria. She stared at him for a second and rasped out a breath she'd been holding in panic. Before she'd emptied her lungs, Edward's arms were wrapped around her, squeezing her so close that she was short on breath again but she didn't care.

Bella let out a wracked sob into the crook of his neck as she pulled him tighter, her arms clinging desperately to his waist. When it seemed like they couldn't come any closer, his fingers gripped at her coat and the hair at the nape of her neck, drawing her in further. He was closer that the other Edward had been, closer than Jacob had been.

The sobs died in her chest and she was calm, bringing the reality of them gripping close on the floor of the bathroom back to her. But she didn't move; instead she took a deep, filling breath and let it out against him. Slowly drawing herself away, she turned her head to look at him and the tip of her nose ran against his cheek. His eyes met hers and then dropped. Hers did the same.

Before her eyes could raise from his lips, he was kissing her. He was initiating, inviting her into him and she readily accepted. Their desperate embrace loosened to one of passion as she pressed into him. His glasses smashed against her nose and pressed awkwardly into her cheek as she licked his bottom lip but neither of them noticed. As she urgently laid into him, he backed away only fast enough to make her follow until he was pressed against the bathroom wall with her straddling his hips.

She moaned into his mouth when his tongue ran along her teeth, sending an alien shiver through her entire body. He broke away at that, rolling hot kisses down her jaw and neck, causing her to loll her head back, feeling lavish and fulfilled.

"Edward…" she muttered breathily. He hummed in response deep in his throat, biting at the point where her neck meets her shoulder. She rounded her hips down on to him and he groaned. He said something to her. Bella didn't hear the words only felt his hot breath against her neck, slipping down the back of her shirt. She kissed his jaw and then pulled away.

"What?" she hissed against him softly.

He laughed in the back of his throat. "I said 'you were never normal.'" She stared blankly at him.

Then she laughed. It was a hiccup against his shoulder that turned into giggling. She felt like she could do that for the first time in weeks. The passion was broken but comfort spread in her chest.

When they left the bathroom, she went first. Looking around to see if the coast was clear, she casually crossed the hallway to preoccupy herself until Edward followed, as if she had been there all along. He came out with a small satisfied smile.

Smirking sarcastically at him, she fixed his glasses when he met her across the hall. Despite her look, her finger ghosted down his cheek as she pulled her hand away. They stood there silently in the silent hall, not looking at anything in particular.

"I should get to class, Edward." She gazed down the hallway.

He stared at her for a long moment and then shrugged. "Yeah."

After another pause, she smiled. "Do you wanna come over sometime this week?"

Edward flushed and averted his eyes but a small childish smile tugged at his mouth. "Yeah, sure."

Just as she was going to turn away, Bella cupped his neck with her hand and drew herself in, pressing a firm kiss to the side of his face—not quite his cheek, not quite his neck. It wasn't contrived and his glasses skewed. But Bella liked it like that.

They parted, he going back the way he came and she turning the corner she never reached before spotting Edward. But she never made it to class.

Bella stopped by a large window and stared out at the forest behind the school. She wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, but it had. When she realized she had an assurance in herself, Bella also realized that she really did care for Edward—the one from her own universe. Or maybe both. At that thought, Bella squeezed her eyes shut.

I can't be doing this, she thought; I can't just lead him on while I've been intimate with someone else, someone much closer to the situation that was at all comfortable. She resolved to talk to him. That was the best she could do. She didn't want to cut short whatever was going on with her and Edward. It felt too good.

An eerie pressure settled onto her shoulders and Bella's eyes snapped open. Staring out at the trees, she realized she'd felt this before. Too many times. Someone was watching her from the trees. Edward had assumed it was Carlisle. Bella could have guessed when it was just her and Edward that it was Sam. But Carlisle had denied and Sam wasn't there. And she'd felt it just before she'd fallen.

Without thought, she headed out the door. She was going to find out.

James grabbed her arm and turned her around. Her heart seized and her she jumped noticeably. Furtively glancing at her hand, the one absent of the scar that this man supposedly would have given her, she took a startled step back into the window she'd just been staring out it.

The universes may not have reached that far, he may not have been affected. Bella forced herself to relax. She rearranged the small look of terror on her face to one resigned frown. "James."

He gave her his usual cocky smirk but his eyes were burning. "You're avoiding me, Bells."

She tugged out of his grip. "I'm not avoiding you. I have a life away from you."

His smirk slid into a jagged frown. "Like one in bed with Masen?"

She inhaled sharply, astonished he'd jumped there so quickly. "You're a pig, James. I've told you once before and it's something you've known all along: We didn't mean anything to one another. Just drop it." Bella gave him a hard glare and his fists clenched. In a second he had her pinned against the wall. He had his pelvis pressed against her stomach, locking her in place, and had one hand pressed against the wall above her hand while the other played with her shoulder, neck, and collar bone. It was suggestive and dangerous as he forcibly kept her in place with his body and his hand could easily grip her neck if he pleased.

"You can't just walk away from me," he snarled. This was a different James than when she'd last seen him. He was calmer and at the same time, more vicious. This was a position similar to the one Edward had her in when he thought she was an imposter but somehow, this sent a wave of terror through her veins.

"Calm down, James," she whispered and his hand gripped her shoulder, thumb pressing painfully into her collarbone. She blinked very slowly and swallowed before continuing. "No one knew we were together. No one will know if we just drop it…"

Bella was trying to play to his pride. He had no reason to be defensive if he realized that it wasn't as if her leaving him would affect his reputation.

James's voice was sweet. "Who says I want to drop it?" His hands dropped to her hips, gripping them sensually. She dropped her head.

"I…I'm with Edward now…" Bella wasn't even sure if that was true and saying it aloud made her uneasy. Surprisingly, James laughed softly.

"And what? You're too good for me now? You're too good for rolling around in your bed with a guy you've never had a conversation with? Behind your parents' backs—behind your brother's back?" He dipped his head to look her in the eye. "How is that different from knowing that while your tongue was in my mouth, Victoria lay in bed dreaming of me?"

Bella's chin hit her chest to avoid his look and her own churning emotions. He was right. And he didn't end there. Dipping closer, pressing more of his body against hers, he said, "And what about Eddy? You think he'll want you—I mean really _want you_—if he knows I've been there first?" He looked at her as if he were grudgingly telling her she had a deadly disease. "I hate to break it to you, guys like that don't like things that have already been touched."

Her hands gripped at the wall, unable to do anything else but hold in her whimpering. He was right. All this time, she'd been deluding herself to think that none of it mattered, that her bitterness was just a realistic way to look at relationships. But really, she'd been whoring herself out to whoever would give her comfort. James. The other Edward. Jacob, emotionally, in more than one universe.

And she didn't have a clue what any of it all really meant to her. Bella didn't even know what she felt about her Edward and she was still willing to make out on a dirty bathroom floor.

James tiled her chin up with the tip of his finger and aggressively smashed his lips to hers. She cringed but that finger turned into a hand gripping her face in place. As he forcefully kept her mouth to his, her stomach gripped but her body relaxed. Edward wouldn't want her if he knew. Not if he _really_ knew.

Just as if she was about to press back—not return the kiss but to simply give in—she stopped. James relaxed his grip and the second he did, she turned her face away.

"Stop it," she whispered firmly. And he snarled. James's face contorted into one of such anger, Bella shrunk a little in her place against the wall.

"Why you little—" He looked like he was drawing his hand back to hit her, but he never had the chance.

"Hey!" Bella jumped and knocked her head into James's at the booming call from down the hall.

Emmett was there, face confused and angry as he jogged up to them. By the time he reached their spot, James had rediscovered his grip on Bella and she let out a surprised yelp, afraid that if Emmett couldn't help her, his showing up had made her situation worse.

"This time your little orphan boys won't be able to save you," James hissed so Emmett couldn't hear. He turned to glare at Emmett but by the time he turned enough, all he saw was Emmett's right hook.

The punch sent James staggering and he dropped his hold. He eventually dropped to his knees in the middle of the hallway. Bella let out a yell of surprise, but before she could do anything else, Emmett had her wrist and was tugging her back the way he came and away from the wall. He moved to stand over James, apparently not finished.

"Hey! Emmett?!" Bella jumped and turned and her stomach dropped farther than she thought it could go. A teacher had a quick pace in their direction. Bella didn't know her name but had seen her before. Now she was really in trouble. This wasn't a situation she wanted to explain to the administration.

Emmett turned and looked sheepish, but didn't look dejected as Bella would have thought he would—he got in trouble so much, this had to be one of his last straws with the principal. Emmett just rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Oh…sorry, Ms. Platt."

"Yeah, sorry," she muttered, her pace picking up. "Just c'mon. You too," she indicated Bella and they joined Ms. Platt as she passed, matching her fast walking gate.

Bella relaxed bit. It was because they obviously knew each other, Emmett and Ms. Platt. Maybe she was a counselor, but she'd never imagined Emmett willingly go to go a counselor. That, and they weren't headed to the office. Either way, she dropped back enough to hiss at him.

"What the hell are you thinking, Emmett!" Bella muttered out of the corner of her mouth. He looked at her with a silly sort of grin.

"I dunno, just happened." He shrugged.

"_Just happened?!_ You decked him!" Her voice rose higher than she'd liked and Ms. Platt turned her head to eye them. The absurdity of the situation got to Bella and she hiccupped a laugh at the end of her sentence. Emmett grinned.

"I thought you were done with him…" he muttered and Bella looked away.

"I am."

"Good." They kept walking.

"Thanks," she mumbled eventually. He nodded. "I…He doesn't mean anything to me." She looked at him and he couldn't imagine stranger—or sadder—expression.

"I know, Bella." She began to open her mouth again and he cut her off. "And no, I won't tell Edward…"

Bella nearly ran into Ms. Platt before she realized the teacher had stopped and was staring at them. She looked stern, glaring mostly at Emmett. Bella wasn't sure what to make of her. Inhaling exasperatedly though her nose, Ms. Platt rolled her eyes then let out an exasperated sigh.

"I don't want to know, do I?" She asked Emmett and he shrugged.

"It's complicated." Emmett muttered and Ms. Platt let out a sarcastic laugh.

"No, Emmett. Calculus is complicated. Quantum physics is complicated. Relationships are not." She took his collar and tugged him in a direction. "C'mon."

She brought them into a classroom, hers presumably, and it was filled with work tables and shades of dated pastels. Ms. Platt was the home economics teacher. It didn't seem like Bella would ever get to class.

"Uh… I'm Bella." She offered and Ms. Platt turned to give her a warm smile, different from the stare she was giving Emmett.

"Nice to meet you." She looked instantly motherly. "Are you okay? Do you want anything—tea or maybe just some water?"

Bella smiled uncomfortably. "No, thanks. I'm fine, really." Ms. Platt nodded but didn't look convinced. She headed to a hot water heater anyway, pulling out three mugs. Then, she pulled out two packages of powdered hot chocolate mix and two tea bags.

"I know you guys don't want to tell me anything, but Emmett, I _have _to stop finding you getting into trouble. I have a responsibility to report this, but I won't. Sooner or later, if this keeps happening, I'll have to."

Emmett looked sheepish and Bella was incredibly intrigued. He shuffled his feet before sitting down at a desk. "Yes, ma'am."

She turned on the heater and then walked over to a shelf of long, flat drawers. Opening one near the top, she pulled out what looked like scraps of fabric. "At least get some work done, alright?" She dropped the fabric down on the table in front of him and he sighed before standing and going to a wall of old sewing machines.

Bella sat down beside him. "You take her class?"

He didn't look up and nodded grudgingly. "Don't tell anyone." Both Bella and Ms. Platt laughed and he slouched over the machine, busying himself with the fabric.

"What're you making?" she asked. He revved the machine pedal and pretended he hadn't heard her.

Ms. Platt leaned on the table beside him. "It's a dress." Emmett frowned as he began sewing. Bella touched the fabric he wasn't using. It was luxurious and soft, and a shade of milky grey. Bella wondered whoever he could be making it for, but didn't ask.

"Where should you be right now, Bella?" Ms Platt was heading back over to the hot water pot.

"Oh…Stats with Mr. Cook." The teacher nodded.

"I'll let him know you were helping me out."

"Oh, it's okay. I've been sick; I'll just have my dad send in a note for the whole day." She paused and looked at her hands, being reminded of the scar that wasn't there. "I…I don't think I really want to go to class anyway."

Emmett looked up at her with sympathetic eyes but quickly turned back to the machine. Ms Platt frowned to herself as she poured the water into her mugs. Silence reigned until the teacher came over with two mugs, one holding both packets of hot chocolate and the other with a tea bag. She handed to cocoa do Emmett and pushed the tea into Bella's hands. Bella took it for warmth though she wasn't particularly cold.

Ms. Platt sat on the desk next to Bella. "I don't know the situation, Bella. But if there is something wrong with this relationship, something physical, you need to tell someone."

There was a look in her eyes so urgent that Bella almost wished she had the story to tell Ms. Platt that fit her suspicion. A dead beat boyfriend turned violent. But no, it was Bella's own doing and nothing she could pawn off on anyone else.

"No…it's not like that, Ms. Platt."

"Call me Anne…" she gave her a warm smile and the youth was evident on the teacher's face.

"Okay, Anne…I. James and I aren't in a relationship. Not really. We had…something, but it wasn't real. But now that I think…I think I might have found a real relationship, James doesn't want to let go." She gripped her mug, staring at her reflection in the pale liquid. "That's not the first time Emmett has found us in the hallway like that…so I guess.."

Anne gave Emmett a knowing glance out of the corner of her eye. "He overreacted?"

Emmett looked up sharply. "No! You didn't see them, Ms. Platt!"

Anne smiled and held her hands up in defense. "No, I didn't. And how many times have a told you to call me Anne?"

He just turned back to his dress with a frown. Anne was staring at him with a bemused smile. Bella was amazed by their relationship and warmth spread in her chest. Emmett had someone to believe in him and encourage him.

"Well, Bella, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here. I've been in violent relationships. The man I married was violent. I won't let someone so young go through that, okay?" Anne gripped Bella's shoulder and she felt better, comforted in a way she'd never felt from her own mother.

The classroom door swung open and they all jumped. Emmett cursed because his stitch was crooked. The office aide in the door looked apologetic but frazzled.

"Mrs. Evenson—Principal Jones needs you."

Anne's face set into an unpleased frown but got up to leave. "I'll be back, guys."

"Evenson?" Bella asked Emmett with they were alone in the classroom.

Emmett shrugged. "It's her married name." He looked around sheepishly. "She…she left Ohio just a few months ago. She was…well, she ran away from her husband. She left after he went off for his second tour in Iraq."

Bella's mouth dropped. "That's terrible!"

Emmett frowned. "Beating women is terrible. Maybe coming home to find her gone is just what he needs." Bella didn't know how to argue with that.

"How do you know all this?"

"I…we talk. She's the only one who listens to me. And she says she doesn't think it's fair for her to ask me to share my life if she won't share hers."

Bella nodded. "She seems like such a nice person for all she's gone through."

Emmett dropped his hands from the sewing machine. "You don't know the—Look, Bella, she tried to kill herself. The damage that being married to Evenson was already done before she left and even then, before she'd gotten out of Ohio, she was so guilty for leaving him while he was at war…She tried to kill herself. But she didn't. Instead she came here, trying to get as far away from any memory of him. That's what those relationships do to you, Bella."

"Emmett, I—"

"No, Bella. I'm serious. You need to be _done_ with James. I don't care what you say or do otherwise, just end it with James."

Bella didn't even try to contest. Pain wracked her gut. Edward wasn't going to want her. She deserved someone like James, if anyone at all. But…Emmett was right. It wasn't healthy.

So, she was done with James, Bella decided. No matter what happened with Edward, she would never let James back into her life. But then again, James couldn't be _that_ bad?

Heeey guys. Back again for the first time since summer, but came back with a nice and long one. (That's what he said.) I've been busy with my first quarter of college and I've had a lot to do but it was nice taking some time out to do something creative for a while. A break from the essays.

If you guys wanna chat about anything with me, ask any questions or what have you, just send me a personal message or ask it in a review. Just as long as there is a way for me to respond to you (an email preferably) then I'll get right back to you.

Also, for those of you who frequent Twilighted, there is a discussion for this story in their forums that I check also, so I'll be sure to get back to you guys. Also the forum is nice because you all can talk to each other.

http:// www. twilighted. net/ forum/ viewtopic. php ?f=33&t=2110

But you guys have to be members to view it, so this link won't work if you aren't. So just sign up (hassle free) and then try the link.

If there are any other discussions I'm not aware of and you want me to check it out, just send me a link. I love communicating with you guys.


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